The Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, Tuesday night told President Muhammadu Buhari that Kwara state is a no-go area for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the coming elections.
Saraki said this while addressing a crowd of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) supporters at a campaign rally at Afon, Asa local government area of the state.
The Senate President said that the fact that he was the focus of verbal attacks by APC leaders at their rally in Ilorin only justified his position that the party had nothing concrete to offer Nigerians.
He also restated his earlier argument that the APC has nothing to offer the people of Kwara state — describing the party in the state as merely a conglomerate of greedy politicians.
He called on the electorate to use the first set of elections to teach the APC a lesson to show them that the state will never be subjected to taking orders from Lagos.
He said: “Saturday’s election is all about Nigeria. The polls is also about Kwara. When I first said this many wondered — but when Buhari came yesterday you all saw what happened.
“They spent the entire day abusing me because they have no plan for us here in Kwara except to abuse Saraki. That is unlike the PDP that trusts us and have assured us of a better Nigeria for all Nigerians.
“PDP is the only party today with an active plan for development, job creation and youth employment. They also have great regard for us in Kwara.
Let’s use the Saturday election to teach APC a lesson that Kwara belongs to Kwarans and we will never take orders from Lagos. Kwara is a no go area for them, let’s tell them with our votes.
“The APC is made up of people who enjoyed your votes because we asked you to vote for them even when you didn’t know them but out of greed they are out of our fold.
“The second group is made up mainly of rebels who have nothing to offer but just to antagonise Saraki after they had benefitted immensely from our political structure.”
…says, I’m proud of stopping Tinubu’s Muslim-Muslim ticket in 2015
Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki said he was proud of his role in stopping the All Progressives Congress (APC), national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu from becoming the vice-presidential candidate of the APC in 2015.
Saraki in a statement yesterday said that he did not mind that the APC leader would continue to bellyache over the issue which he said was prompted by national interest.
Responding to assertions made against him at the APC presidential campaign rally in Ilorin, Kwara State on Monday, Saraki in a statement signed by his Special Adviser (Media and Publicity),Yusuph Olaniyonu said, “As for Tinubu, we have never expected any good words from him. All his life, he will continue to belly ache and nurse grudges over my opposition to the Muslim-Muslim ticket idea in 2015. As far as he is concerned, I stopped him from realising his ambition then. However, I believe my action then and now is in pursuit of national interest. Again, I supported President Buhari in 2015 because I believe he could make a positive change. I left the party when I realized he lacked the capacity and the desire to make any change.
“Tinubu on his own part said though he agreed with me about my assessment of the man, he would continue to support Buhari even if the man had to govern from the hospital stretcher because that is the way he (Tinubu) could become the President in 2023. So, while my position is premised on national interest, Tinubu’s is based on his personal interest and ambition. Now that Tinubu’s new speciality is to hurl insults at people like former President Olusegun Obasanjo and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, focusing on me today is okay if it will help him feel good.
“It is surprising that a man like Tinubu will be talking about morality and corruption. This is a man whose disrepute is known both within and outside Nigeria. This is somebody who personifies everything that is wrong with the Nigerian system. Well, I am not ready to roll in the gutter with him. Unlike them, I will stay on the issues that are germane to national development and the welfare of our people.”
Meanwhile, shortly after President Buhari’s visit to Kwara State capital, some residents largely made up of women took to the street to sweep off his “foot prints” from the roads at Oja-Oba area in Ilorin, the state capital.
The women trooped out to the Emir’s palace to immediately sweep away what they called “bad luck and bad governance.”
They prayed not to witness such hunger again in Kwara. Also, some Kwara youths were quick to converge at the metropolitan square, to say no to Buhari and the APC after the rally. “They have nothing to offer, all they do in their various campaigns is to call out Saraki without telling us what they can do for us” – one of the youth said
