Crisis rocking All Progressives Congress (APC) kwara state chapter at the weekend took a new dimension when a Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, Member Federal House of Reps, Hon. Olawuyi Ajuloopin and 21 member of the State House of Assembly accused one another of siphoned funds meant to prosecute 2018/2019 elections in the state.
The Minister, Lai Mohammed on Saturday, call out Hon. Olawuyi Ajuloopin to account for the sum of N70 million raised by the party’s to prosecute his bye-election in 2018 said “I want them to explain to Nigerians what happened to the N70 million that Hon. Olawuyi Ajuloopin, kept and refused to give us during the 2018 bye-election”
The minister made the accusation, while addressing his supporters during the commissioning ceremony of the factional APC secretariat in Ilorin.
In minister’s words “When we raised money to prosecute that November 2018 bye-election and gave them but, to our biggest surprise, like two days to the election, we could not reach them through their phones again to release funds we raised”
“I had to go to friends to raise another N150 million to prosecute that election”
“But they got there today and forget the people that put them there . If we did not give money to the party, how did he think the party won?”
Reacting to the minister allegation, Hon. Olawuyi Ajuloopin said “Let me give you the details by the details of what transpired in the build up to the bye-election. A North Central State Governor reached out to me on personal ground to donate to the 2018 by-election and when the minister got wind of the donation, he immediately reached out to me and asked me to bring the money”
“However, I, immediately contacted a few of our trusted party elders to intimate them of the development, but they counselled me against sending the money to the minister based on his antecedent with money”
“Also, on my own, I personally gave Alhaji Lai Muhammed the sum of N32.5m, with the full knowledge of the former party chairman, Bashiru Bolarinwa, for election purposes; the minister and Bashir Bolarinwa cannot deny this except there is no conscience left”
“Now, if anyone is to be accused of mismanaging the 2018 campaign fund, it should be nobody other than Lai Mohammed, who till date cannot give details of how the money was spent”
In a similar development, 21 member of the State House of Assembly, also berated the Minister, Lai Mohammed for what they described as false accusation against their personality.
Reading a prepared speech, the deputy House Speaker, Hon. Rapheal Adetiba said “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.
“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?!”
“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”
Meanwhile, a member of the state House of Assembly, from Lai Mohammed constituency, Hon. Felix Awodiji call for the sanction of the minister for what he described as unpatriotic attitude of the minister.
In Awodiji words “As minister of information and Culture, Federal establishment under his ministry, have not witnessed any turnaround since he became minister, I, therefore call for the sanction of the minister’s, because his statements was tantamount to anti party”
We could recalled that, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq had earlier during the unveiling of a book ‘O’toge’ last week Saturday said that “this book launch, offers the right platform to speak up. And for Ministers, Governors, party supporters and friends of Kwara who I later heard donated hundreds of millions of naira to support the Otoge struggle in Kwara, I want to say that I did not receive a kobo of that fund. But how that money was managed or stolen is a story for another day!”
