Rotimi Akeredolu, Governor of Ondo State, has said Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a former Lagos State governor, remains the undisputed leader of the South-West region and the National Leader of the All-Progressives Congress (APC).
Governor Akeredolu, who is also the Chairman of the South-West Governors Forum, said this when the governors of the region paid a visit to the Bourdillon, Lagos residence of Tinubu, who recently returned to the country after a knee surgery.
In a statement issued by Richard Olatunde, his Chief Press Secretary, the Ondo Governor said the governors believe in the leadership of the APC chieftain.
According to the statement, Akeredolu and his fellow governors noted that Tinubu is doing his best as the leader of the South-West region and the APC.
Other parts of the statement read;
“We held the South-West Governors’ Forum meeting. After the meeting, we deemed it fit to come over and visit our leader who has returned home successfully and who is hale and hearty.
“We have come to show our love for him and thank God on his behalf. He has been receiving visitors here. This place has turned into Mecca. We are here as part of the pilgrims.
“Arakunrin Akeredolu, who led his colleagues to the meeting, noted that Asiwaju Tinubu is not just the leader of the South-West but also the only national leader of the APC in the country.
“He explained that they decided to pay the APC National leader a visit after the South-West Governors’ Forum meeting which took place earlier in Lagos.
“The National leader of APC remains one. Most of us in the South-West believe in his leadership and it shows that he’s doing his best to lead us.
“He is not only the leader of the South-West but also the National leader of the APC in Nigeria. But we in the South-West first lay claim to him as our leader.”
Speaking earlier, Governor Akeredolu confirmed that the South-West Governors held a meeting in Lagos State to discuss the affairs of the region.
The meeting comes days after the recent attack on the Abolongo medium custodial centre in Oyo state.
The correctional facility, located in Oyo town, was attacked on Friday night by gunmen who killed some security operatives and freed hundreds of inmates.
Speaking to journalists after the meeting, the Ondo Governor said part of their deliberations was on the security situation in the region.
He, however, said the forum was not willing to share details about the meeting with the public.
He said: “We, the six governors of the south-west under the south-west governors’ forum, met today and deliberated on a number of issues that we have in common.
“We also deliberated on our common heritage, which is the Oodua group of companies, and at the end of the day, we agreed on a few things. A number of them that have to do with security is not what we want to discuss in the open.
“This short address is just to let you know we had this meeting and we arrived at a few things which we don’t want to discuss in the open.”
(Newsbreak)
