The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Oyo State has kick-started its preparation for the vacant seat of Ibadan North Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives.

This followed the announcement of the by-election date by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The seat became vacant following the death of the lawmaker representing the constituency, Olaide Akinremi.

This was the high point of resolution made at a meeting organised by the members of the State Working Committee of the party and a body of eminent leaders and stalwarts from the Ibadan North Local Government Area.

The meeting, held on Tuesday at the Oke-Ado, Ibadan state Secretariat of the APC, was presided over by the State Chairman, Alhaji Olayide Abas.

In a statement issued at the end of the meeting and made available to journalists in Ibadan by its Publicity Secretary, Olawale Sadare, Oyo APC acknowledged the receipt of the guidelines for the conduct of a primary election to pave the way for the emergence of its candidate for the said poll among the many aspirants who have indicated their interest to occupy the seat which became vacant as a result of the death of Hon. Olaide Akinremi who, until his transition last year, was a member of the party.

In his opening address, the party chairman emphasised the need for all stakeholders to collaborate in order to assist the APC in reclaiming the seat it won convincingly in the 2023 general election. “It is unfortunate we lost one of our best performing elected officials in Hon. Musiliu Olaide Akinremi, but we found solace in the fact that he left an enduring legacy behind. It is on the note that we are telling the constituents of Ibadan North to keep faith in us, as we shall give them another performer again.

“In compliance with the directives of INEC and the guidelines released by the APC National Secretariat, we shall commence the revalidation and upgrade of our membership register across the 12 Wards in Ibadan North LGA for the purpose of the by-election. We have concluded all arrangements for this particular exercise, which will take place simultaneously at the meeting place in each of the Wards between July 2 and July 5, 2025. All new and existing members need to have their membership revalidated with their Permanent Voter Card (PVC) and nothing more.

“I want to use this opportunity to establish the fact that we have not decided on a particular mode of primary as we are still consulting with relevant stakeholders. We have options of consensus as well as direct and indirect primary, but I can assure you that none have been adopted yet. However, we are appealing to aspirants and their supporters to embrace peace as we assure them of fairness and justice.” Abas said.

In their response, the party stalwarts led by Alhaji Bello Adeleke Oladeji expressed confidence in the state leadership of the party even as he assured that members of the Apex Committee of the APC in Ibadan North have resolved to work together as a team and mobilise support for whoever that emerges as the candidate of the party in the by-election which he described as a litmus test for the APC ahead of the next general election.