2023: 'I Won't Engage in Campaign Of Calumny'- Abdulmumin Yinka Ajia
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| Dr. Abdulmumin Yinka Ajia |
By Adedayo Said
APC Chieftain in Kwara State, Dr Abdulmumin Yinka Ajia has called on politicians and their supporters to shun utterances that may undermine the peace of the country during 2023 electioneering campaigns.
Ajia made this call on Saturday while addressing journalists in Ilorin the state capital.
The Academician expressed displeasure over how people are turning his legal suit against the Kwara PDP Gubernatorial candidate, Abdullahi Shuaibu Yaman into a political circus show by some unethical elements.
His words: "Few weeks ago, I woke up to a viral news story in faraway USA. This news story sensationalized my dispute with Abdullahi Shuaibu Yaman and embellished it. find this very distasteful. My dispute with Abdullahi Shuaibu Yaman was turned into a political circus show by some unethical elements. And while the instant case started since the defendant's days in the APC, the issue in dispute isn't a political one and detest attempts to turn it into one."
Ajia observed there is a growing disregard for the truth and a deliberate attempt to be careless with fact and evidence in Public discourse.
"Those behind the malicious article under reference deliberately concocted a scenario further from the substance of the suit between Abdullahi Shuaibu Yaman and I and it became clear to me that these are people that are contemptuous of the truth and would do any and everything to fight their opponents including embracing deliberate falsehoods; am not one of those." He explained
"This episode has shown these fly by night-hack writers as people without scruples as they went to town with a patently false story. My dispute with Abdullahi Shuaibu Yaman is anchored on the truth and cannot be tainted by the shenanigans of a few paid no scruples hack writers.
"I will not be distracted in my pursuit of justice and am using this medium to warn these unscrupulous individuals and their paymasters to keep my name off their mouths and sell their candidate or candidates without muddling the waters. I believe in ethics and my philosophical training and belief is anchored on the golden rule. I am using this press conference to warn those behind the article in question and their sponsors to find another trade and as the case goes through the court, it is important for everyone, traditional media, new media, and citizen journalists to report only the truth as observed in the court proceedings. Nothing else will suffice."
"It is clear to me that some people want to create some 'Bolekaja' scenario in an attempt to muddle the waters and avoid substantive debates about the state of Kwara and where we are headed in the next four years. Though Abdullahi Shuaibu Yaman will not have my vote and am a member of the APC, will not accept nor be associated with a campaign of calumny and I reject emphatically any attempt to link my name with such."
"Let it be known that my involvement in both Kwara and Nigerian political life is as a result of an undying concern that we can do better as a people, that especially here in the great state of Kwara, we are blessed to live in one of the most endowed states in Nigeria. And while it is true that we have abundant mineral resources, agricultural land, and waterways, our greatest resources are the people. Industrious, hard-working folks, who despite the tough economy keeps on going, they are the reason why I got involved."
"Because I realized early on that my own prosperity is tied to theirs and that I haven't succeeded if some people in Kwara are still living in poverty is why all of my investments except a few are in Kwara. My large scale commercial farm, real estate firm, management consultancy, hospitality business, educational institution, and my capstone project, Safehands technologies DBA safehanzz.com are all sited here in the great state of Kwara. These are organizations with people drawing salaries and taking care of their families."
Dr Ajia also itemized his humanitarian and philanthropic gestures to Kwarans.
He said: "I funded an endowment at the Kwara State University in memory of my late mother. The Hajia Habiba Bola Ajia Memorial Foundation Prize in Entrepreneurship was established to help indigent students, particularly female ones to get through the university. Before now, my philanthropic organization, Kwara Development Initiative has helped several kwarans out of poverty. And in continuation of my philanthropic ways, I recently established the Agaka Football Academy and the Ilorin Gifted Academy. Both of these organizations are established to help the neediest but often neglected ones amongst us."
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