Kwara State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said that President Godluck Jonathan’s dream that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will dislodge former governor Bukola Saraki and reclaim the state in 2015 will not be realized.
President Jonathan had while receiving a delegation of Kwara PDP at the State House on Tuesday, vowed that the ruling PDP would reclaim Kwara before or by 2015.
The leadership of the PDP is in court challenging the defection of five PDP governors and quite a sizeable number of legislators to APC.
In a statement by its Interim Publicity Secretary, Sulyman Buhari on Wednesday, the APC said “the perpetual claims on the political future of Kwara State by President Goodluck Jonathan smears of ignoramus et ignorabimus, and such unwitting claims should be brush-off by Nigerians”.
The party described the PDP as a sinking party that was deserted by Kwara people, saying it understood the frustration of the leadership of the party, noting however that, “the unrepentant style of misinforming Nigerians by Mr President is unpresidential and condemnable”.
Buhari stated further, “President Jonathan has forgotten some basic Facts of history, PDP has been in existence since 1999 at the federal level but there was no PDP in Kwara State until 2003 when the Sarakis adopted the party. Kwarans supported and joined en mass the PDP due to the love for the Sarakis.
“It is a shame that President Jonathan-led PDP had no impact or achievement to lay claim on when he visited Kwara State. Mr. President is being deceived; even his supporters in Kwara are known to be saying it around town that they know President Jonathan can’t win election in Kwara. Their treachery is to dent the Sarakis, the same structure that made most of them – and this complot will certainly hit the rocks”.
The APC also posited that there was no stolen mandate in Kwara as claimed by the President, saying “The mandate given to the Governor Abdulfatai Ahmed administration by Kwarans; built and renovated additional five general hospitals recently, the Community Health Insurance Scheme to boost healthcare delivery in the state has been expanded to cover 600,000 kwarans, stories of 5,400 youths have changed from unemployment to empowerment through the first phase of the Quick Win program the APC led State government started few days ago and many more.
“Any person that tagged a representing mandate like the mandate given to Governor Abdulfatai Ahmed, a stolen mandate is either been mischievous or too inept to understand the mandate. Stolen from where to where? Kwarans are the beneficiaries of this mandate and their interests are assured in the APC.
“The reality of Nigeria today is that the federal government is now defrauding its poor and unemployed citizens to the tune of billions of Naira and Nigerians are been killed through pseudo recruitment exercise. This should really be of concern to Mr. President and we urge him to borrow a leaf from how the Kwara State government has been tackling the issue of unemployment.
“Mr. President is not God and shouldn’t be seen to be playing God. The signal given by Mr. President that Kwara State may be “recaptured” before 2O15 elections is questionable. Is there a sinister attempt to “recapture” power through the back- door by the Presidency and PDP before 2015?
“Will it be through a Presidency influenced judgement at the Supreme Court? Will it be through sponsored violence by the PDP and consequent declaration of State of Emergency in Kwara State? All these questions and many more demand answers. We condemn these sinister attempts and urge Mr President to dissociate himself and his office from this evil plot.
“The ideology of the PDP has since changed to bad leadership and corruption. It is childish for PDP to think kwarans will trade the peace and sustainable development presently enjoyed in the state for bad leadership, corrupt practices and mismanagement – the hallmark of PDP.
“Mr. President is still in the euphoria of the paid non-kwarans he addressed in Ilorin but it remains a mirage how a party without leadership and structure, with no councilor in any of the 193wards, with no chairman in any of the 16 Local governments and just two (2) members out of 24 members in the House of Assembly, will win any election in Kwara State. Or is Mr President thinking of announcing election results from Abuja? This will certainly attract uprising from kwarans and it should best remain in his imagination.
“However, these nocturnal politicians in the PDP can continue to deceive Mr President with their paper-weight in the state to bargain for money or positions, that is PDP’s headache but we state, the election-winning machinery has presently formulated in the APC today is capable of winning all elections in Kwara State if elections are held today,” Buhari said.
