By Opeyemi Adelakun
The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Campaign Council for the Ekiti governorship election and Governor of Kaduna State, Uba Sani, has said the ruling party is targeting no fewer than 500,000 votes for Governor Biodun Oyebanji in the ongoing poll.
Sani disclosed this during an interview while providing updates on the conduct of the election across Ekiti State, expressing confidence that the APC would secure a convincing victory.
According to him, reports from the state’s 16 local government areas and 177 wards indicated that the electoral process was progressing peacefully, with cooperation among voters, security agencies, electoral officials and party representatives.
He noted that the party’s new target represents a significant increase from the approximately 187,000 votes secured by Oyebanji during the 2022 governorship election.
The APC campaign council chairman attributed the ambitious projection to the state’s voter strength, pointing out that Ekiti has more than one million registered voters and a high rate of Permanent Voter Card (PVC) collection.
Sani commended officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security agencies and election observers for their efforts in ensuring a smooth electoral process.
He acknowledged that a few challenges were recorded during the exercise, particularly network-related issues affecting the upload of results to the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal, but noted that the commission responded swiftly to address the situation.
The Kaduna governor also lauded the security arrangement put in place for the election, stating that political parties had generally expressed satisfaction with the conduct of security personnel deployed across the state.
He further credited the APC’s confidence to what he described as Governor Oyebanji’s inclusive leadership style and the impact of President Bola Tinubu’s economic and governance reforms.
According to him, investments in infrastructure, healthcare, education, and the payment of pension and retirement benefits have strengthened public support for the governor ahead of the election.
Sani expressed optimism that the party would achieve its target or come close to it when the final results are announced.
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