Some elders under the aegis of Ondo State All Progressives Congress (APC) Elders Movement said they will deliver over 1.5 million votes for President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 general election.

The chairman of the movement, Nimbe Farunkanmi, stated this on Monday at the meeting of the group in Akure.

Mr Farunkanmi said the APC Elders Movement was a conglomerate of the elders of the party and would always speak with one voice to ensure there was no crisis and bring unity to all.

He said the group would ensure that 90 per cent of votes cast in Ondo State would be for Mr Tinubu, while the group would do everything possible to achieve the purpose.

“This is the elders’ movement for Tinubu continuity, and this is not a case of I am a support group.

“This type of meeting is going to be held at the local government, it’s going to be held at the wards, and it’s going to be held at the units for Tinubu’s re-election,” he said.

Also speaking at the event, one of the leaders of the party, Jamiu Ekungba, said the essence of the meeting was to bring everyone together for mobilisation, while registration would be by commitment.

Mr Ekungba said the party was mobilising people to register at the ongoing Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure the group achieved its mission.

“You know, in the last election, we tried it and we were able to achieve it because for the governor to win 366,000 votes was unusual.

“So, as somebody has said, we are going to deliver 1.5 million votes to Tinubu and it is possible because currently registered voters in those states are 1.9 million.

“The problem is that people don’t come out to vote.

“So what the elders want to do now is to persuade everybody to come out and vote, and we’re going to vote massively for Tinubu in such a way that has never been done.

“So that when we return that figure, nobody would say something happened because it’s going to be real votes.

Olukemi Iyantan, the wife of the late deputy governor of Ondo State, and the current federal commissioner representing Ondo State, National Population Commission, said focus shifted to the 2027 general election after the Nov. 16 governorship election.

“We are focusing on the achievements and the victory at the polls in 2027 for the re-election of our president, Bola Tinubu.

“The issue is the unity of purpose, how we can form a unified force, especially the creation of the elders’ movement.

“So whatever the elders do, consult them for knowledge, wisdom of knowledge, it will help us to reach where we are going, unlike before when we didn’t even have leaders, that’s why you see the party in shambles.

“But now that we have leaders and the elders that are committed to the cause of 2027, the re-election of our president, you know that we can go higher, go everywhere so that we can achieve our aim.

“We know that at every point in time, when you have troubles, we have a place to turn to for consultation and wisdom, which can help us,” she said.

Also, another chieftain of the party, Olumuyiwa Ogunleye, said the essence of this meeting was for the elders to intervene and try to unify the party, rally the party around the leaders.

“The elders are intervening to ensure there’s no division in the support for Tinubu in Ondo State.

“All the support groups, all the efforts must be in one place because the main purpose is to give maximum votes possible in Ondo State to President Bola Tinubu at the 2027 general election.

“So, we are going to bring all the groups together under one umbrella, which is called ‘Ondo State for Tinubu 2027’ because the governor has set up the caucus, and the caucus is statutory.

“So every other organisation will operate under this support group,” he said.

(NAN)