•vow to dump party
Ahead of the much anticipated 2023 general elections, some aggrieved leaders of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) across the 16 local government areas of Kwara State have vowed to dump the party if Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq could not retrace his steps.
Addressing journalists during a media briefing for the unveiling of “Kwara State Opinion Leaders-P16”, on Friday, a former Chairman of Ifelodun Local Government Area of the state, Engineer Jide Usman, said the group leaders had watched patiently and with grave concern some happenings in the state political horizon.
At the briefing which had other leaders of the group in attendance, Usman listed some of their grievances including the inability of the government to organize local government elections to bring elected officials to run the affairs at the local government level, slow and low payment of gratuities due to pensioners, neglect of the rural areas with regards to physical development and agriculture which government would have used to create employment for the teeming youth and the rural road network neglect.
Recall that the Director-General for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, State Campaign Council in Kwara, Prof. Ali Ahmad has rated Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq poor in terms of performances, saying that the governor is driving the state backwards with his policies.
THE ELITES WATCH earlier reports that the former Federal Lawmaker and PDP Chieftain said that Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq could not commission a single project for more than three years in office, adding that states like Ogun, Imo, among others have commissioned housing and road projects.
However, The APC leaders disclosed that P16 comprises respected opinion leaders and grassroots mobilizers in the 16 local government areas that any serious political group in the state cannot afford to ignore.
The erstwhile council chairman said overtures made to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to table the grievances of the group proved unsuccessful.
They warned the leadership of the party in the state against its decision to ignore them on issues of utmost concern to the people of the state.
The leaders, who insisted that they remain in the party despite the glaring shortcomings of its leadership, informed that they might be forced to opt for a last resort in the event they were ignored as exhibited in the past and present times.
They added that the interaction of the group with people across the three senatorial districts of the state also revealed similar tales of woes and disappointments leading to the resolve to pitch tents together and take their destiny into their hands in the forthcoming general elections.
Usman, a one-time governorship aspirant, cautioned that the APC may not able to form the next government in the state this year if positive actions were not taken on the issues of concern raised in the running of the present administration.
“We had sought an audience with His Excellency to enable us to present our feelings, observations and opinions for discussion with him on a one-on-one basis. The overtures were ignored. This was despite the fact we are not taking all these steps for pecuniary benefits but for the benefit of his administration and the good people of Kwara in general.
“We went further by appealing to some other notable Kwarans to facilitate our meeting with the Governor to raise with him our concerns and give suggestions and possible strategies that can be deployed to counter the ugly development in order to prevent the forthcoming political disaster and achieve success in the forthcoming elections.
“Surprisingly, all our efforts proved abortive because up till this moment and as much as we believed that our messages got to him, he decided to ignore them and refused to see us. We, therefore, came to the conclusion that it is either that he is not seeing what we are seeing or that he considers us not important.
“However, we must state here categorically that it was the notable collective efforts, supports and sacrifices of the P7 as APC members and other groups that succeeded in giving birth to the present administration in the state. Therefore, we are qualified to give genuine advice when we observe that things are going wrong.
“We must express our feelings and state emphatically that we feel neglected and marginalized by the government and that our massive sacrifices, and contributions led to its emergence.
“Consequently, our disappointment and dissatisfaction led us to discover that millions of other Kwarans have experienced similar I don’t care attitude from the government of Kwara State, with whom we now associate to stop this kind of government from coming to power in Kwara State again”, the former council chairman said.