NOW THAT ASIWAJU HAS WON, WHAT NEXT, APC? – JESUTEGA ONOKPASA.

Thankfully we only lost election in Lagos but we have not lost Lagos.

We would only lose Lagos if we are self-destructive enough to allow ourselves to lose the gubernatorial election on the 11th of March.

Same goes for Katsina and, indeed, every other state we currently hold at governorship level but lost during the presidential poll.

We cannot afford to lose elections twice in a row and yet call ourselves a political party worth the name.

We must therefore all rally to the aid of Governor Jide Sanwo-Olu in Lagos and Dr. Umar Dikko Radda, our candidate in Katsina.

We simply cannot lose Lagos or Katsina!

Indeed, we must now win in both states as much for our pride as a party, as for the fact that we need our governors in place in both states to be on the side of our incoming President.

We must also do the same for our indefatigable heroes, including the likes of Governors Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna, Ben Ayade of Cross River, Abdulahi Ganduje of Kano and Dave Umahi of Ebonyi.

We must strive to ensure that their preferred candidates succeed them.

We must not forget that some of President-elect, H.E. Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s most dependable supporters are first term governors going for reelection, including Governors Bello Matawalle of Zamfara, AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq of Kwara, Abdulahi Sule of Nasarawa and Babagana Zulum of Borno.

They will be requiring all the assistance they can get from the party and its supporters from across the country.

We have won a great victory in the presidential election but quite frankly there is simply no time for celebration.

We have states to keep in the kitty and others to add to the tally.

A President is not only aided by able and loyal legislators.

He also requires resourceful and capable governors in order to optimally succeed.

This election has undoubtedly brought great relief, untold joy and much cause for thanksgiving to our party, the All Progressives Congress, APC.

Nevertheless, and, unless we wish to wallow in self-delusion, it also brought with it a great many occasions for shame and episodes of much embarrassment.

That shame, we must now remove, even as we must requite that embarrassment.

Yes, we still won the Presidency of Nigeria despite losing in critical states but we would win nothing if we also lose in the impending gubernatorial contests in those states.

We lose this time around, we actually lose the states to the opposition, and, that is simply not an option!

Winning as many states as possible for our party is a veritable device for assisting Asiwaju Tinubu deliver on his newly minted mandate on which we now actually stand.

Yes, we worked, with many of us giving it our all, but, ultimately, this was a victory won for us, for Asiwaju, and, for Nigeria, from above.

Thus, as a party, as party members, and, as party supporters, whatever we got wrong in the presidential election, we must now get right in the gubernatorial ones.

Whatever we bungled in the presidential contest, we must now correct for the governorship elections.

Whatever we failed to do in the presidential feature, we must not fail to do in the gubernatorial undercards.

Whatever we took for granted, yet still gained the Presidency, we must now take with utmost seriousness or lose the governorships.

We can always celebrate Asiwaju’s mind-blowing triumph later but now it’s time for work at state level.

Indeed, we need to do this for Asiwaju, for our party, for ourselves and, above all, for our country.

Onokpasa, a lawyer and member, All Progressives Congress, APC Presidential Campaign Council, writes from Abuja.