Kwara 2023: Yaman will reclaim 2018 lost mandate

Popular Kwara-based Media personality, Mr Sulaiman Abdulwaheed popularly called ‘Kwara Aiyekooto’ has declared that the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial candidate, Alhaji Shuaib Yaman Abdullahi will reclaim the mandate he lost during the 2018 APC primaries in the forthcoming 2023 governorship election in Kwara State.

Abdulwaheed said this at the weekly ward meeting held on Monday at Adeta Primary school in Ilorin, while leading scores of APC members to PDP.

While addressing the PDP members during the official defection of hundreds of APC members to the PDP, Abdulwaheed said that he was part of the people who fronted the Otooge campaign during the 2019 general elections.

He added that he has decided to leave the APC due to the “unfaithfulness” of the leadership of the ruling APC in the state.

According to him, many one-sided statements were told about Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki to discredit his personality and ruin his good legacy.

The media personality said, “I’ve chosen to join the PDP because I believe in its leadership under Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki and I foresee greater development in the state following the choice of candidates the party presented. The likes of Alhaji Shuaib Abdullahi Yaman, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, Mallam Ibrahim Ajia and other candidates of the PDP are beyond capable. They all have the required qualifications and experience needed in a leader.

“They told us many one-sided statements about Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki ahead of the 2019 electioneering process and we didn’t bother to verify if what they said about him were true or false, we just absolved everything they told us hook, line and sinker.

“It’s now I believe that lies do not last long. When I did my background check, I found out that all they said about Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki were one-sided and does not represent the truth of what Dr Saraki represents,” Abdulwaheed stated.

Speaking on the ‘unfaithfulness of the APC’, he said, “When the 2019 election was over and the leadership of the APC came on board, then, we saw their true colours. They forgot all the promises we had made to our people during the struggle. They thought that because they have won the elections, they have acquired the power not knowing that it’s the people who keenly elected them to the position.

“Some of us who loved the ruling APC tried our best to correct them but unfortunately, they were adamant and forced us out of the party. So, since they didn’t yield to corrections, we have decided to leave them and move on in our political sojourn.”

In his address, The media personality unveiled a political movement codenamed ‘Kwara Rescue Movement (KREM)’. He said in his effort to ensure PDP wins majority positions at the 2023 election in Kwara, he decided to launch a political movement which will serve as a support group to all PDP candidates across all party levels in the state.

He added that one of the cardinal operations of the support group is to win more members and capable hands in the emerging third force political parties, SDP, and NNPP respectively in order to deliver the PDP candidates victoriously.

Speaking on the chances of the PDP in Kwara at the 2023 poll, Abdulwaheed noted, “The PDP will win majority votes across the state in the 2023 election. I am very confident about that. The unfortunate part of the one-sided statement we made against Dr Saraki is that none of the people who were with Dr Saraki then were able to tell What Saraki truly represents. They rather go on radio to be soft on those statements available to us as at then. It is unfortunate”.

“But now that we are here today, We have promised to meet with Dr. Bukola Saraki to hear directly from him in order to be able to tell Kwarans what Saraki truly represents. It’s a task that must be done.”

Notable members of the APC who symbolically tore their membership card to get the PDP card include: Mr Dauda Ikumeja Agba; Mrs Issa Nimat; Mr Kariola Isiaka; Mr Bolaji Magaji; Abdulateef Olode-Okuta; AbdulKareem Zainab.

Others include: Babakobi AbdulFatai; Mrs Bisiriyu; AbdulSalam Khayrriyah; Salaudeen Modinat; Sodiq Rukayat; Alhaja Iyabo AbdulRasaq; Musa Monsurat among others.

Abdulwaheed promised to work within his capacity and use every legal means to ensure all the PDP candidates triumph at the 2023 general elections.