- Alhaji Lai Mohammed says the president of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, is already rattled over the movements of people against PDP
- Mohammed explains how the last by-election in Kwara state was won by the APC
- The minister expresses optimism that the APC will win the forthcoming general elections in Kwara state
Nigeria’s minister of information and culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said the Senate president, Bukola Saraki, is rattled by mass movement against the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and “his overdue hegemony” in Kwara.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mohammed, who heads the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara stated, this on Thursday, January 24, in his home town, Oro, near Ilorin after a meeting with the party’s leaders and stakeholders in Kwara South senatorial district.
The minister made the statement in reaction to allegations by Saraki that the November 2018, by-election to fill the vacant House of Representatives seat for Ekiti/Irepodun/Isin/Oke-Ero constituency in Kwara was rigged by APC.
Saraki had reportedly made the allegation in an interview with the African Independent Television (AIT) recently.
However, speaking concerning the allegation, Mohammed said that it was baseless and that the Senate president was rattled by his impending defeat in the forthcoming general elections.
“I have been told that the Senate president in the interview said the context was between the PDP and the police and that an helicopter was brought in with ballot boxes and were delivered to APC.
“I think the Senate president is so rattled and so afraid that his reasoning is becoming illogical.
“The last by-election is the first and only free and fair election ever conducted in Kwara since 1999.
“This has been the testimony of all the stakeholders whether they are PDP or APC that it was the only election where there were no reports of ballot stuffing, ballot snatching.
“No single shot was fired by the Police and all hoodlums trying to perpetrate violence were contained and apprehended,”Mohammed said while explaining that in line with the usual practice, when the election materials were delivered to the state by INEC, they were kept in the custody of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
According to the minister, on the eve of that by-election, all the party agents inspected the materials together in Ilorin.
“Like I have said, the Senate President has seen the handwriting on the wall that he will be defeated in the forthcoming elections and he is looking for excuses,” he said.
Concerning the outcome of the meeting with the stakeholders, Mohammed noted that what was going on in Kwara was beyond election campaign but “a mass movement and revolution.
“From what transpired today, it is as if nobody is waiting for anybody before doing something about the campaign. It is a mass movement.
“Leaders and stakeholders are funding campaign programmes and reaching out to the electorate.
“The electorate, on their part, are saying that it is not about money but about their freedom and prosperity for their children.
“I am coming out of this meeting much more encouraged.
“As a matter of fact, what they told me was that, I should go and campaign in other senatorial zones and leave them to deliver their zone, assuring that they will deliver Kwara South to APC,” he said.
Expressing confidence that the APC will be victorious in the state, he said: “It is just not good to be complacent; however, if the report from the field and the euphoria are what we are to go by, we will stop campaigning.
“However, we will not stop our campaigns because we want to beat the PDP overwhelmingly in the polls.”
He appealed to the police and other security agents to be deployed for the elections to ensure a level playing ground and nip any possible violence in the bud.
Cyber19ja.blogspot.com earlier reported that Bukola Saraki recently vowed that Kwara state will never take instructions from political godfathers in Lagos state.
It was reported that Saraki allegedly made the statement when addressing members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) recently.
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