A group campaigning for the re-election of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Progressives Network For Tinubu (PNT) has asked the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to choose popular candidates to help secure over one million votes for President Tinubu in next year’s election.

The Director-General of the PNT, Pastor Olumide Obadele said the choice of popular and credible candidates would help the party since the opposition political parties have been decimated in Ondo State.

Addressing reporters after a meeting tagged “Vision One Million Votes Project For Tinubu Strategic Meeting”, on Tuesday, Obadele advised the party against fielding unpopular candidates in next year’s elections.

Obadele said the group has held a series of meetings and built strong structures across the 18 Local Government Areas, 203 Wards, and the 3993 Polling Units, and brought opposition parties to the APC fold as part of efforts to galvanise votes for President Tinubu.

Also, he said PNT has been able to bring together all the non-indigenes in the state to endorse the re-election of President Tinubu and empowered some indigenes and residents with cash, supported those in need, and intervened in various ways to help in the reelection campaign for President Tinubu.

However, Obadele said these efforts should be complemented by the APC through the choice of popular and credible candidates to represent the people at the National and State Assemblies in next year’s election.

According to him, “I can tell you, for free, that the consensus approach is the best approach we can use in politics. The indirect approach, for me, is too expensive. If you don’t have the funds or deep pockets, you cannot pursue it. But with the consensus idea, the most popular candidate emerges. Nobody will put forward an unpopular candidate because that would lead to failure in the election.”

Obadele said: “We have many people vying for various offices, and the party will settle for the most popular among them to secure victory in the coming election. Whichever method is adopted direct primaries, consensus, or otherwise, it is a game of what we have on the ground today; it is a game of popularity.

“In the past, someone who was not popular but had deep pockets could succeed. But now, it is a game of the popular. I believe strongly that those in positions of authority will not impose candidates. If an unpopular candidate is imposed, that candidate may lose. Anywhere an unpopular candidate is imposed, bring a popular candidate from another party, and that person will win. I am confident that in our party, especially in this state, no leader will promote or impose an unpopular candidate.”

Obadele said the Vision One Million Votes Project was born out of the 2023 Presidential election result in which President Tinubu of the APC got 369, 924 votes, PDP got 115,463 votes, LP got 4,405 and NNPP got 930.

He said the total votes cast in 2023 were approximately 500,000 which amounted to about 27.60 per cent of the total available votes in the state, the result which he said was an abysmal performance and there is a need to turn things around.

His words, “As of today we have over 2,000,000 registered voters and the registration exercise is still ongoing. Our drive and goal as 2027 approaches is to ensure that we deliver at least One Million votes to President Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election in Ondo State.

” I charge you again today to move from house to house, community to community, village to village, town to town, city to city with the Vision One Million Votes for Tinubu in Ondo State.

“We have moved from the boardroom and we are now on the streets, we are no longer mouthing it we are now deploying all our arsenals to achieve it. And we strongly believe that for the first time in Ondo State, we shall deliver the highest number of votes for a Presidential Candidate and that candidate is President Tinubu.”

Obadele allayed the fears of members over the call for mandatory registration of

support groups. He said that since the support groups had been registered with the National Secretariat, there is no need for double registration in the state.

In his remarks, a member of the Elders Forum, Hon Demola Ijabiyi called on members to be dedicated and work for the reelection of President Tinubu in their various political units and wards.