Kwara elections will be issue-based ― Lai Mohammed

Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara state, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said that the coming general elections in Kwara state will not be determined on the basis of ethnicity, religion or gender, but main issues affecting the state.

Speaking at a women sensitization forum organized by the women wing of the APC in the state for the coming general elections on Thursday, Alhaji Mohammed, who is also the minister of Information and Culture, debunked allegation of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state that APC is planning to annex the state to South West.

It is recalled that the Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki, had vowed to frustrate alleged plans by some politicians and their local collaborators to annex the state to the South West. He said that at the kick-off of the PDP governorship campaign in Bode-Saadu, Moro local government area of the state on Tuesday.

The APC leader said that the problem of the state was not that of ethnicity, religion, or gender.

“These elections will not be determined on the basis of ethnicity, religion or gender. The main issues here have to do with how our state has been governed in the past 50 years, 40 of which have been dominated by a single family.

“What has happened to the commonwealth, which has been cornered by a single dynasty at the expense of the people? Where are the roads and other infrastructures to justify the huge resources that have accrued to the state? If you follow a path for so long, and it leads you nowhere, won’t you try another path? These are the issues

“They say some people want to take them to the Southwest. Absolute lies from those whose family ties to Kwara are questionable. I can speak for myself. I am a bona fide and proud Kwara citizen. My father and mother are from here. No question about that.

Our gubernatorial candidate is unquestionably a proud Kwaran, from right here in Ilorin, and there are no questions about his origins. So who is the stranger here?

“In our campaign for the forthcoming elections, we have been proudly showcasing what the Federal Government has achieved since assuming office in 2015. That’s the way to go.

When they come to you, ask them how many kilometres of roads they have tarred. Ask them why the people have no potable water to drink. Ask them why workers have been pauperized because of non-payment of their salaries. Ask them why the quality of life of our people is at the lowest point.

“Ask them who tarred the Ilorin-Jebba-Mokwa road that they took to Bode Saadu, where they launched their campaign a few days ago. That road was impassable during the time of the PDP, the same party they are now touting as the one with the magic wand. If they tell you that President Buhari was the reason they have not performed, ask them what they did with the several bailouts they
received from the Federal Government. Ask them why they could not pay workers salaries despite getting bailouts and Paris Club refund. They claim they are helping the state to offset workers salaries.

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“Remind them that they are only returning some of the commonwealth they have looted. They are only doing so out of panic.

“Ask them why they used their position to sabotage national budgets year after year, to the detriment of the people. These are the issues that will dominate this campaign, not those tales by the moonlight.

Some of the people they nominated to the boards of government agencies and parastatals are still there, yet they claim that Kwara has not benefitted from this Federal Government. These people, some of whom are holding executive positions, will soon be shown the way out”, he said.

Earlier, the state APC women leader Rahmat Bolaji said that the party had marginalized women in the scheme of things, adding that “we know that this is not deliberate.”

Hajia Bolaji added that “the general and most important objective is to make sure that our party women leaders are adequately sensitized to mobilize the entire women population in the state so that we can be victorious at the 2019 general elections.”