Leading Oyo State House of Assembly hopeful in the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ibadan South West Constituency II, Olayinka Faniyi, has said she stepped down in order to strengthen the unity of the party.
Recall that the former First Lady of Oyo state, Dr. Florence Ajimobi recently called a stakeholders’meeting to reconcile all the agrieved groups of the party ahead of 2023 elections. The leadership of the party had prevailed on some of the decisions of the party.
One of the candidates, Olayinka Faniyi has, however, said, she accepted to step down due to the unity of the party and the intervention of her leader Senator Teslim Folarin.
Faniyi in a statement made available to our correspondent on Tuesday explained that she did it for the unity and cohesion of the party.
She said her vision has always been about building a strong party because she believes that politics can only get better when political parties are responsible.
Faniyi who is the founder of Yinfanny Foundation ceased the opportunity to appeal to the members of the party to give room for peace to reign in order to unseat the current government.
“My vision has always been about building a strong party because I believe that our politics can only get better when we sanitize our political parties and make them true instruments for recruiting competent and desirable leadership for our country. It is, therefore, towards the realization of that singular objective that I have made several sacrifices in the past.
“It is visible to the blind and audible to the deaf that I am one of the leading aspirants of the APC in Oyo state in which I was a frontline aspirant for Ibadan South West Constituency II House of Assembly seat, I decided to step down in deference to the wishes and dictates of the leadership of our party, Dr. Florence Ajimobi and my leader Senator Teslim Folarin who is vying for governor of the state. I did it for the unity and cohesion of our great party, for its greater good and as proof of my undying loyalty to a political party I hold in high esteem.
“I made this decision with the full awareness that our party represents a cohesive family, one that ambition and interests must never be allowed to divide us. As a family and as a political party, contestation and competition will be inevitable, but the ultimate objective of maintaining our unity and togetherness must always triumph over whatever individual aspirations we all may have.
“Finally, to the my political leader, Senator Teslim Folarin, I say congratulations in advance because this is a done deal”.
She however congratulated Idris Ajimobi for emerging as the candidate to represent Ibadan South West Constituency II.
