Kwara APC gov candidate, government bicker over campaign slogan

GOVERNORSHIP candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara state, Alhaji Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, has rejected suggestions by the state government that his campaign slogan, O to ge (enough is enough), could ignite political suspicions in the state.

In a statement by his media team in Ilorin on Sunday, the APC governorship candidate said that the campaign slogan was properly vetted and approved by the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON).

“Our O TO GE slogan simply means that our people have had enough and are desirous of change through the ballot box”, the statement said, adding that the government was only trying to crack down on the opposition.

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The statement reads: “We are surprised and disappointed at the action of the Kwara State Government and Kwara State Signage and Advertisement Agency (KWASAA) over their threat to pull down our billboards and campaign banners or posters that have this slogan.

“If despite their underwhelming performance in the past 14 years, the Kwara State Government and its patrons do not find their slogan of ‘continuity’ as provocative to the people of Kwara state, it is out of place to complain the opposition’s #Otoge calling for a change.

“We totally reject Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed’s statement of Friday, December 7 in which he claimed that our campaign slogan was capable of pitching people against one another. We also reject KWASAA’s claim that complaints have come from the Emir of Ilorin’s palace regarding the slogan. We urge the Kwara State Government and its agencies to face governance.

“We urge independent government agencies of the Federal Government, including APCON, police, the department of state security, to continue to be apolitical and professional in their dealing with politicians.

“Finally, our campaign has been very peaceful, orderly and issues-based. We promise that it will continue to be so. But while using this opportunity to again urge our supporters to eschew every form of violence or disorderly conducts even in the face of unprovoked attempts to cage the opposition, we believe that our people have seen enough of deprivations, mediocre governance and mismanagement of public resources to say it loud and clear that enough is enough. OTOGE!”

S-Davies Wande