Prince Sunday Fagbemi has emerged the new chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State.

He emerged alongside 35 others as members of the state executive council of APC – all products of bottom-up consensus among party stakeholders.

Fagbemi pledged that his team “would lead by example and work with everyone to strengthen the party”.

Fagbemi, a long-standing ally of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq with track record of being a leader in the Kwara progressive fold, was announced as the consensus leader amid cheers and backslapping from hundreds of delegates gathered at the peaceful congress.

“I thank His Excellency, our party leaders, elders and delegates for the confidence reposed in me. I also want to thank my predecessor, Alhaji Abdullahi Samari, for holding forth so well for the party. We will soon reel out our plans and we will start with genuine reconciliation of our brothers and sisters of the same family,” he said to a thunderous applause.

“We will be transparent in all our dealings. We will hit the ground running and will soon intimate the public on the direction we will take.”

The carnivalesque congress was attended by Governor AbdulRazaq; his deputy Kayode Alabi; House of Assembly Speaker Yakubu Salihu-Danladi; Senators Ibrahim Yahya Oloriegbe; Lola Ashiru; House of Reps members; House of Assembly principal officers and members; cabinet members; APC National Chairmanship hopeful and Turaki Ilorin, Mallam Saliu Mustapha; and several other party leaders.

The congress was conducted by a seven-man National APC Headquarters committee led by Prof. Emmanuel Dandaura, and witnessed by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The congress began with Dandaura announcing the procedures for the exercise as laid down in the APC laws and regulations.

“We started very well since our arrival. We held a stakeholders’ meeting where we explained the modalities and sought the buy-in of everyone and we are impressed by the conduct,” Dandaura said.

“After the screening, we established that one candidate each obtained form for each of the positions and we are therefore going for consensus in line with the guidelines of the party.

“I can confirm that APC Kwara is working as a family. Kwara APC is the most peaceful and orderly. I have had the privilege of conducting congresses in four states before and what I conducted here (Kwara) is one of the best.”