In a bid to achieve victory in the 2023 polls, youth from different political blocs of the All Progressives Congress APC, Oyo state chapter have appealed to the leaders and elders of the party at both the state and national levels, to put the interest of the party first and ensure all hands are on deck.

The youths under the aegis of “Oyo APC Interest First”, said the crisis that has trailed the controversial state congress of October 30, has indeed exposed the challenges the party is facing to the world.

Arising from a stakeholders forum which was held in Ibadan recently, the group through a communique issued and signed by a Co-Convener, Aponmade Ahmed Adewale; noted that top of the challenges is the division caused by the quest for power by various tendencies and blocs within the party.

The communique reads in part, “The State Congress held on the 30th of October has exposed the challenges we are facing as a party. At the top of these challenges is the division caused by the quest for power by various tendencies and blocs within the party. While this is not alien to politics, it is inimical to the progress of the APC at the state level and even the National level.

“The lessons from 2019 seem to have been forgotten by party stalwarts, chieftains and faithfuls. We lost our position as the party in government because of differences that could have been settled, if we truly had the interest of the party at heart. We lost the ability to resolve and this cascaded into a painful loss in no small measure at the last election.

“Life gives us many chances, these chances are opportunities to create a better future by taking the right decisions. Today, Oyo APC has gotten another chance to predict it’s own future. The future of our party will only be assured if we put the interest of the party first. Only If we put #OyoAPCInterestFirst.

“As youth of the party, we belong to various tendencies and blocs. These blocs all come together under the big umbrella of the APC. For without the APC, there will be no platform for these tendencies and blocs to operate. Thus, it has become expedient to save the soul of the party, if any of these blocs will survive”.

According to the statement, “OyoAPCInterestFirst” is a movement that has risen out of the need to bring all party members together for the love of party and for brotherhood sake.

OyoAPCInterestFirst therefore used the opportunity to call on the party leaders to put the interest of the party first adding that the interest of the the party is sacrosanct and non-negotiable, for whatsoever reason.