Arewa community hails Sanwo-Olu, APC over key appointments in Lagos

By Adeyemi Adeleye

The Arewa Community in the All Progressives Congress (APC), Lagos State, has commended Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu and party leadership for appointing its members as Supervisors and Special Advisers in some councils.

Speaking on behalf of the Arewa Community in the state at a news conference on Saturday, Alhaji Jida Sayid, the Vice-Chairman (Central), said the organisation would forever be grateful to the APC leadership led by Pastor Cornelius Ojelabi.

He described the appointments as a demonstration of inclusiveness, recognition, and political relevance within the APC in the state.

Sayid listed benefiting local councils as Agege, Ojo, Oriade, Amuwo Odofin, Apapa Iganmu, Ajeromi, Ifako-Ijaiye, Ikorodu, Ikoyi-Obalende and Iru/Victoria Island Local Council Development Areas (LCDA).

“Our sincere gratitude and congratulations go to our dear State Chairman, Pastor Cornelius Ojelabi, who always has the interest of the Arewa people at heart.

“We are also very supportive for his well deserved re-election as the State Chairman during the just concluded State Congress of our great party APC.

“We also want to appreciate him for the Supervisors and Special Advisers positions given to the Arewa Community and the Ex-officio position given to us at state executive committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Lagos state chapter,” Sayid said.

He listed some of the beneficiaries of the appointments to be Haija Hamdiya Mohammed (SA in Oriade LCDA); Lawan Mohammed (SA in Apapa Iganmu LCDA); Salisu Gezawa (Supervisor in Agege LG); Mohammed Zubairu and Rakiya Jibril (SAs in Ikoyi-Obalende LCDA).

Sayid also used the opportunity to express the leadership’s disaffection with the protest staged at the APC State Secretariat on Monday, describing it as handiwork of opposition or ill-informed members.

“The disgruntled individuals claims that the Arewa community was not given any supervisor/SA positions were untrue, and their position unfounded, lacking any verified facts.

“The protest was carried out by the organisers based on their selfish agenda which does not represent the interest or views of the Arewa Community, Lagos State.

“Therefore, we condemn such embarrassing actions and we disassociate the Arewa Community from the mischievous act completely,” he said.

He dismissed claims of marginalisation following a protest at the APC Secretariat, describing the action as misleading and unrepresentative.

Sayid reaffirmed that the entire Arewa Community remained resolute, dedicated, committed, loyal and ever focused and “working very hard toward winning the forthcoming general elections 2027 for our great party APC.”

He said that recently, the Arewa General Assembly/Stakeholders Summit had endorsed President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027 general elections.

According to him, Tinubu’s excellent and tremendous achievements on all sectors of the economy and his renewed hope agenda are taking the country to greater height.

Sayid said he spoke on behalf of Alhaji Sa’adu Dandare-Gulma, the Chairman of the Arewa Community in the All Progressives Congress (APC) Lagos State and his vice who were away for the Eid-el-Fitr celebration.

Also speaking, Hajia Aisha Sanni, who was recently appointed as Ex-Officio I in the Lagos State APC State Executive Committee, applauded Tinubu, Sanwo-Olu and party leadership for carrying the Arewa Community along in the state.

Sanni, who affirmed the party leaders’ magnanimity to the group, promised that Arewa women would vote massively for the APC in the state.

“Tinubu is coming back in 2027. We want to thank the party for always carrying us along,” Sanni said.

She said that many Arewa women were already in possession of their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), saying others were being mobilised for the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) to get PVCs.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Arewa Community leaders at the event included Hajia Ramota Umar (Assistant Legal Adviser), Alhaji Mohammad Mahmud-Abba (Financial Secretary); Awwal Garba (Assistant Treasurer) and Hassan Jaguar (Youth Leader, West 2) amongst others.

(NAN)