Kwara APC Youth Call For Cancellation Of Membership Registration/Revalidation

…Accuse Gov Abdulrazaq of Sponsoring Media Attacks Against Lai Mohammed

The youth wing of the All Progressives Congress in Kwara State has called for cancellation of ongoing party membership registration/revalidation exercise in the state.

The APC Youth Stakeholders, Kwara South Caucus made this call on Friday at a Press Conference held at the State Party Secretariat, Ilorin.

They cited non compliance with registration guidelines issued by APC National Secretariat, noting that the non deployment of registration materials across 193 wards of made the exercise invalid.

The group noted that the foolscap sheet usage and target release of registration materials at some party leaders/stakeholders polling unit are smokescreen to cover ongoing illegality in Kwara state.

They accused Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq and Senator Danboyi led registration committee of conniving to deregister party faithful who are willing to revalidate their membership as well as mobilize more people into the ruling party.

The group queried how the registration officials plan to capture signature/fingerprint of members as provided in APC Membership Registration form with the ongoing registration format in over 1000 polling units across the state.

”The Registration and Revalidation Exercise in Kwara State be cancelled and postponed so that the party can plan a fresh Membership Registration and Revalidation Exercise after the constitution of a new Committee which will carry along all tendencies and interest groups within the APC Kwara State.” The group stated.

They also alleged Governor Abdulrazaq of sponsoring media attacks against the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed for exposing ongoing APC Membership Registration scam in the state.

According to them, is it an offence for a serving Minister to call for the cancellation of an exercise being fraudulently carried out? Is there any law against the Minister expressing his speech and thoughts on a very sensitive matter after seeing physical evidences?

”Kwarans and Nigerians as a whole ought to ask Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq why he is so much in a hurry to secure a second term in office, while he is yet 1 year 8 months and some days in office. Kwarans and indeed Nigerians as a whole need to ask him, if that position is worth the destabilisation of the peace and tranquility of Kwara State?”

Kwara APC Leadership Tussle

They therefore urged President Muhammadu Buhari to direct Governor Mai Mala Buni led Caretaker Committee to respect the APC NEC resolution of 8th December, 2020, where it was agreed that “All dissolved State Executive Councils of Party should be returned in Caretaker Capacities”.

”The situation currently at play in Kwara State, is one in which another person aside from the person who is recognised by the 8th December 2020 APC NEC, is shamelessly parading himself as the Caretaker Chairman, thus creating confusion in the Party.” They observed.

Lai Mohammed The Lagos Politician

We are beginning to observe derogatory messages on social media, credited to individuals loyal to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, attempting to slight Alhaji Lai Mohammed as being more of a Lagosian than Kwaran. Let us remind those agents of destruction, that Alhaji Lai Mohammed has contributed his due to earn him the respect he is being given in Lagos. He served in various capacities in Lagos State and distinguished himself. We will like to remind these brood of vipers, Alhaji Lai Mohammed is not alone in this. The First Executive Governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef Kayode Jakande now of blessed memory, hails from Omu-aran in Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara State. We have a daughter of Kwara State who hails from Offa, Alhaja Fausat Adebola Ibikunle that is currently the Kaduna State Commissioner for Housing and Urban Development. There are also many Kwara Citizens who have served and are still serving meritoriously in Lagos State other Nigerian States. We also have Kwarans who are serving in the American and European Senate. This ought to be a thing of joy and should never become a topic for scornful remarks. 

We wish to remind those loyal to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, we are likewise aware that his Special Assistant on New Media, Yinka Fafoluyi is from Ondo State. Yet, he occupies that Office inspite of many eminently qualified Kwara Citizens. We are also aware about how Khadijatu Ba was appointed, we are well aware of her Senegalese origin. On this note, it is highly unfortunate and myopic for the so called “Kwara South APC Youth Stakeholders” to descend so low by advancing issues that have no meaning whatsoever.

We remain resolute in our support for Alhaji Lai Mohammed and wish to admonish President Muhammadu Buhari to discontenance the rants of these illegitimate sons in APC Kwara State. WE STAND SOLIDLY BEHIND ALHAJI LAI MOHAMMED.

THE ILLEGITIMATE SONS IN APC HAVE MATURED

Being the text of a Press Conference addressed by the APC Youth Stakeholders Kwara South Caucus; on Friday 19th February, 2021, at APC Secretariat, Ilorin, Kwara State, to respond to an earlier Press Conference addressed by individuals that can be best described as “illegitimate sons” within the APC.

Highly Distinguished Members of the Press, Fellow Nigerians, it is our pleasure to once again address you today in view of the unfolding drama which unfortunately is fast becoming a norm under the Leadership of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.

It is so sad and quite disgusting that under his Leadership, APC in Kwara State is “on a free fall towards obvious perdition and self distruct”.

This Press Conference wishes to address the one earlier done by “a conglomerate of illegitimate sons in APC” led by a certain Mallam Tiamiyu Mumini and Hon. Kehinde Bayode. We needed to clarify to you Gentlemen of the Press and Fellow Nigerians, that what you witnessed was in fact a case of “the hands of Esau, but the voice of Jacob” scenerio. The real proponents of the Press Conference were individuals who prior to, and many months after the 2019 General Elections, were Members of the PDP in Kwara State. These individuals only decamped into our fold after they discovered that our Great Party, APC Kwara State Chapter, has won elections and is now in the control of the affairs of Government in Kwara State.

What we find distasteful is the penchant of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq for whom we toiled and bled, to resort to using the people who worked against him and our party during the 2019 General Elections.

It is quite unfortunate that our Governor usually mobilize supporters from the camp of the PDP. Gentlemen of the Press, you will remember that months ago, PDP members then serving as Council Chairmen and Councillors stood accused of fraud to the tune of Billions of Naira and were subsequently placed on suspension. It is surprising that up till today, nothing much has been heard about this case. However, we are aware of a meeting which took place between some known agents of our Governor and these individuals who later on decamped into the APC and joined the Governor’s faction of the APC.

Gentlemen of the Press; before now, we have sat down to analyse possible scenarios which can make the APC Kwara State Chapter to lose in any future elections, should such ever occur.

One of such scenerio identified was a case of Intra Party Crisis erupting within the tendencies that formed APC in Kwara State.

It is with great displeasure that today, the situation which we feared the most has suddenly come upon us. As it stands today, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has introduced agents of destruction into our ranks in the most clandestine and despicable manner, which is now stimulating disaffection capable of festering into a situation where “the centre can no longer hold”.

Gentlemen of the press, we need to inform you that before Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the Hon. Minister of Information and Culture, came into Kwara State for his revalidation process, we had consistently been intimating his office of a situation where loyal supporters of the APC were being selectively deregistered and disenfranchised by the individuals saddled with the task of registration. A day before he proceeded to Oro, his native hometown to revalidate his registration, a meeting was held in which the Hon. Minister was confronted with a compilation of various pictures and videos of violations of the APC registration Protocol. It became clear that in a bid to desperately secure a second term in office for the incumbent Governor of Kwara State, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, his own tendency in the APC Kwara State, which is the weakest of the four tendencies, would go ahead to deregister and disenfranchise as many loyal party members as possible. This is being done so that in the event of a congress, the Governor will have the superior numbers because by then all those who are likely to compete with him in any way would have been eased out of the APC via this exercise.

Distinguished Gentlemen of the Press, Fellow Nigerians, the recent calls by “illegitimate sons of the APC” for the removal of the Minister of Information and Culture, should be seen as a situation where the “illegitimate sons are now mature to an extent that they are now attempting to pull down the house to which they were adopted”. If it were not for these illegitimate sons who in the current APC Kwara State Chapter will dare to call for the removal of one of the Founding Fathers of APC in Nigeria and the icon who masterfully supervised Kwara Liberation Struggle to the point of 100% victory?

We were not surprised, as many of them were not on our side of the political struggle, when Alhaji Lai Mohammed and Hon. Bashir Omolaja Bolarinwa brought together all the tendencies of the party and various leaders of conscience, to execute the most daring Political Revolution Nigeria and Africa has ever seen.

Gentlemen of the Press, anyone claiming that the current APC Registration and Revalidation Exercise in Kwara State was peaceful, orderly and achieving the desired results, “is simply trying to place a wig upon a vulture”. We today foresee a situation where APC as a party is being prepared for failure in future elections in Kwara State.

Gentlemen of the Press; Fellow Nigerians, it was the weight, sophistication and undeniable status of the evidences shown to the Hon. Minister of Information and Culture which informed his statements calling for the cancellation of the APC Registration and Revalidation Exercise in Kwara State.

In view of the manners in which the faction of the APC in Kwara State loyal to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq is attacking the Hon. Minister and calling for his removal, we regret to state that the time has now come to show to the whole nation; the good, the bad and the ugly about the entire Registration Exercise in Kwara State.

We want Nigerians to see and judge for themselves, if such a sacrilege should be upheld or another new registration exercise should be done in Kwara State.

Gentlemen of the Press, is it an offence for a serving Minister to call for the cancellation of an exercise being fraudulently carried out? Is there any law against the Minister expressing his speech and thoughts on a very sensitive matter after seeing physical evidences? 

Kwarans and Nigerians as a whole ought to ask Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq why he is so much in a hurry to secure a second term in office, while he is yet 1 year 8 months and some days in office. Kwarans and indeed Nigerians as a whole need to ask him, if that position is worth the distabilisation of the peace and tranquility of Kwara State?

Gentlemen of the Press, we need to state for the record that members of the so called “Kwara South APC Youth Stakeholders” are nothing but “illegitimate sons” smuggled into our midst through the backdoor, just as every other steps that our Governor has taken in the past as been through the backdoor. We condemn and reject all these agents of destruction masquerading as members of our Party.

We are alerting the National Leadership of APC of this eminent danger.

OUR RESOLUTION

In view of all that has happened thus far, we the loyal members of APC in Kwara State so resolved that:

1. The Registration and Revalidation Exercise in Kwara State be cancelled and postponed so that the party can plan a fresh Membership Registration and Revalidation Exercise after the constitution of a new Committee which will carry along all tendencies and interest groups within the APC Kwara State.

REASONS

a.) Many stakeholders and their supporters are yet to be registered by the Party. In fact, there are several Wards where the APC Registration booklet have never been sighted.

b.) In view of the various biased and unjust disposition of the Senator John Danboi led APC Membership Registration and Revalidation Committee, it is clear that the process was flawed from the beginning and designed to favour the loyalist of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.

c.) In view of the selective deregistration and disenfranchisement of loyal supporters of APC in Kwara State, which was done unfortunately and with unchecked impunity in the presence of the electorate who were themselves likewise denied Registration. We are of the view, that our Party is being ridiculed and painted in a bad light. This is likely to form a negative opinion poll against our party in future elections if not properly addressed.

2. President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, Major General (Rtd) Muhammadu Buhari, should order Governor Mai Mala Buni led Caretaker Committee to respect the APC NEC resolution of 8th December, 2020, where it was agreed that “All dissolved State Executive Councils of Party should be returned in Caretaker Capacities”. The situation currently at play in Kwara State, is one in which another person aside from the person who is recognised by the 8th December 2020 APC NEC, is shamelessly parading himself as the Caretaker Chairman, thus creating confusion in the Party.

3. The Governor of Kwara State should be cautioned to refrain from acts capable of making the APC unpopular within the State. One of such actions is the recent arrest of Six Sunset Workers on trump up charges bothering on public disturbance and breaking of Covid -19 Protocols.

REASON

a.) The unlawful arrest of these youngsters, is being seen as an act of Tyranny aimed at silencing the Sunset Workers. It is also a violation of there fundamental human rights.

b.) It is suspicious that in recent times, loyalists of the Governor has been holding several Rallies in different parts of Kwara State. These Rallies equally portends the risk to stimulate the spread of the dreaded coronavirus, yet there is no record of anyone being placed under arrest for this.

c.) We wish to likewise draw your attention to the Press Conference held at the NUJ Secretariat, in response to which this current Press Conference is being addressed. 

You will observe from pictorial evidences of the said Press Conference that there are some individuals who were in the NUJ Hall without their nose mask. This is a gross violation of the Covid -19 Protocols. Till today, none of those individuals have been arrested. From these too separate events, it is very clear that the arrest of the protesting Sunset Workers is a clear case of selective justice aimed at putting an end to the protests of these young Kwarans.

4. We are beginning to observe derogatory messages on social media, credited to individuals loyal to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, attempting to slight Alhaji Lai Mohammed as being more of a Lagosian than Kwaran. Let us remind those agents of destruction, that Alhaji Lai Mohammed has contributed his due to earn him the respect he is being given in Lagos. He served in various capacities in Lagos State and distinguished himself. We will like to remind these brood of vipers, Alhaji Lai Mohammed is not alone in this. The First Executive Governor of Lagos State, Alhaji Lateef Kayode Jakande now of blessed memory, hails from Omu-aran in Irepodun Local Government Area of Kwara State. We have a daughter of Kwara State who hails from Offa, Alhaja Fausat Adebola Ibikunle that is currently the Kaduna State Commissioner for Housing and Urban Development. There are also many Kwara Citizens who have served and are still serving meritoriously in Lagos State other Nigerian States. We also have Kwarans who are serving in the American and European Senate. This ought to be a thing of joy and should never become a topic for scornful remarks. We wish to remind those loyal to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, we are likewise aware that his Special Assistant on New Media, Yinka Fafoluyi is from Ondo State. 

Yet, he occupies that Office inspite of many eminently qualified Kwara Citizens. We are also aware about how Khadijatu Ba was appointed, we are well aware of her Senegalese origin. On this note, it is highly unfortunate and myopic for the so called “Kwara South APC Youth Stakeholders” to descend so low by advancing issues that have no meaning whatsoever.

5. We remain resolute in our support for Alhaji Lai Mohammed and wish to admonish President Muhammadu Buhari to discountenance the rants of these illegitimate sons in APC Kwara State. WE STAND SOLIDLY BEHIND ALHAJI LAI MOHAMMED.

CONCLUSION

It is pertinent that we remind Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq and all his Loyalists, that “it is ungodly for a Man to bite the hands that helped him”. People who do that don’t usually end well. Also, “a River that hurriedly forget it’s source, will surely dry up”. Alhaji Lai Mohammed is and still remains “the Father of APC in Kwara State”. He didn’t assume that position because he is a Minister today. He earned that position by his hardwork, diligence in the Party and by earning the respect of those he works with. As such, any attempt to undermine him or Insult him will be meet with very swift response and resistance by we the Loyal Members of APC who are now on alert. As regards those “illegitimate sons” in our Party, we urge all right descerning Kwarans and Nigerians to ignore all their putrid rants. We know that many of them are simply hungry and frustrated individuals. We are aware how they were quarreling shamelessly in the public over Monetary issues. We are using this medium to advise the Governor to stop distracting himself. By intervening in Party administration through the back door, the Governor is inadvertently creating Battlelines in many frontiers for himself and also making our Party highly unpopular. Let it be stated clearly, that no one is dragging chairs with him. He should rather focus on the task of providing Leadership and likewise fulfill the campaign promises promises of our Party. A word is enough for the Wise.

Thanks and God 

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