Amidst internal crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress (APC) kwara state chapter, 21 Member of the State House of Assembly has came out to expressed satisfaction in the approach of the Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to issues in the face of provocation.
The said members expressed this on Sunday 4th of July, 2021 during a press briefing, held at the NUJ press center, Offa Road, Ilorin, state capital.
According to the spokesperson of the group, Hon. Raphael Adetiba, who is a Deputy Speaker of the House said “We state unequivocally that we stand with the Governor. We are comfortable with his humility, his kindness, his team spirit, his commitment to a greater Kwara State, and his measured and peaceful approach to issues in the face of provocation”
The group of lawmakers also clear air on the allegations leveled against them by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who is a Chieftain of the party in the state that he financed campaign of 24 of them during the 2019 general election.
According to them “Our attention has been drawn to an odious lie recently told by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed claiming that he supported and or financed the campaign and election of the 24 members into the Kwara State House of Assembly in the last general election in 2019”
“We ordinarily should have ignored the Minister and took it as another lie from Lai Mohammed but for the unsuspecting members of the public and posterity, the record needs to be set straight”
“Lai Mohammed did not give any support in any form to members of the 9th legislature during the campaign and election; if he did, he should name who and what he gave out. Could the Minister be mixing things up on account of his old age?!”
“For God knows reason, Lai Mohammed did not participate in any of our campaigns and did not also contribute financially to it. It was the then Governorship candidate of our party, the APC, who supported our campaigns all through. For the records, all the twenty-four members of the House of Assembly received financial support from His Excellency Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq for the purpose of prosecuting the House of Assembly election, so Lai Mohammed should please stop telling lies to the people”
“Apart from the governorship candidate (His Excellency Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq), the other support was the sum of N500,000 each that we received from the national headquarters of our party, APC. Other than that, it was the Governor who funded our expenses including logistics, souvenirs, posters and other campaign materials. Even so, at no time did the Governor go about telling anyone that he funded our campaign”
“It is also laughable that Lai Mohammed could claim to have personally raised money to finance the 2019 general elections in Kwara State. The question that would readily come to mind is: What is Lai’s contribution to his own Ward, Local Government, District and Kwara in general to have earned him respect and reputation for people to trust him and donate money to him?”
“This latest vituperation of the Minister is better likened to the last kick of a dying horse after the Governor, Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, has rightly exposed the inglorious roles he played and his mismanagement of the money generated from the ‘friends of Kwara’ for the 2019 general elections. He is clearly running away from being accountable while struggling so hard to portray himself as the New Napoleon! That era is gone in Kwara State”
“We, therefore, wish to implore Alhaji Lai Mohammed to please count us out of the problem or squabble he may have with the Governor and focus on his assignment as a Minister while we concentrate on ours as lawmakers. At the level of the state government and as lawmakers, the people of the state can point to the positive differences we have made in their lives. We have facts and figures to justify our stewardship. Kwarans are counting how many months left for Lai Mohammed as Minister and how many benefits and Federal Government’s project he has brought to his own village, Samora, Oro Kingdom, Kwara South and Kwara State in general” the group said.
