Stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress in Kwara State during the week declared that the outcome of the 2023 elections will bury the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other opposition parties in the state.
The APC stakeholders made the declaration during the inauguration of the party’s 2000 Campaign Council’s members which was held at the party’s campaign office along Umaru Audi road, GRA, Ilorin, the state capital.
Speakers at the colourful and well attended event included the state governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, speaker, Kwara State House of Assembly, Engr. Yakubu Salihu-Danladi, APC state chairman, Prince Sunday Fagbemi, director general of the campaign council, Ambassador Abdulfatahi Seriki, Senators Umar Sadiq and Lola Ashiru; Kwara central senatorial candidate, Mal Saliu Mustapha, House of Representatives candidates, Yinka Aluko,Adamu Sha’aba and House of Representatives member, Olawuyi Ajuloopin.
APC chairman, Prince Sunday Fagbemi set the tone for the declaration in his opening remarks.
Expressing the confidence that APC will win all the elective offices during the general elections, Fagbemi noted that,” most of these opposition parties do not have up to 2000 members.
“We are the best, we shall continue to be the best. Our worthy ambassadors who we are inaugurating today must work hard to deliver the state to APC.”
He thanked the governor for ensuring inclusiveness in the composition of campaign council.
He charged the campaign council’s members to harvest more supporters and voters for APC, adding that:” I’m very sure that most of the parties don’t have up to 2000 members. Everyone of you is expected to operate within your localities. We are decentralizing the campaign council. Showcase our achievements to the people of Kwara State.
“Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq’s achievements are enough for the people to elect him for a second term.His Excellency’s projects are scattered across the 193 wards. We should work for the success of our presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. We shall win the presidential, governorship and all other offices with with landslide”.
Fagbemi commended the leadership of the state police command for the effective policing of the state, thanking them for promptly arresting a self- confessed PDP supporter who wanted to cause mayhem during an APC rally at Oju- Ekun area of Ilorin.
He urged members of the council to work assiduously for the victory of the party at all levels in a peaceful and orderly manner.
“We do not want violence in this election. Go about your campaign peacefully. We do not believe in violence because our party is not known for that. We commend the police for their prompt action, which led to the arrest of a member of the opposition who nearly disrupted our campaign recently in Ilorin,” he said.
Also speaking, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq said that the achievements of his administration will ease the campaign council’s tasks across the 193 political wards in the state.
“As a government, we have made your job easy because of what we have done in every part of the state. We met dilapidated structures across the state in primary health and education, poor infrastructure, and lack of water supply. We have gone very far to overcome that. We have done exceedingly well across sectors,” AbdulRazaq said, as he inaugurated the council alongside other party leaders, including Deputy Governor Kayode Alabi.
“We have stabilised things, and the next few years will serve to consolidate on our achievements and position our state for greatness and further empower our people positively, especially young people and women.
“The previous governments couldn’t even pay salaries, pensions, and gratuities in spite of huge funds that they received. Within the last two months, we have paid about N6bn to clear salary arrears, pensions, and gratuities for 2009, 2010, and now 2011.
“We will continue to upscale on what we have done in the areas of health, education, agriculture, road infrastructure, and social safety net.”
AbdulRazaq congratulated all members of the council for their nomination by the party and charged them to consolidate on the success recorded in 2019.
“You are charged to deliver our party just as you did in 2019. The immediate challenge is to deliver Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the next president of Nigeria. Then, you must deliver all our senators and House of Representatives members on the 25th of February, 2023. You should also deliver all our candidates in the March 12 governorship and House of Assembly elections,” AbdulRazaq said.
AbdulRazaq also encouraged the youths to learn from the experiences and guidance of elders to guarantee the success of the party.
Other speakers, Salihu-Danladi, Mustapa,Ashiru, Sadiq and Aluko urged members of the party to see their appointments as call to duty and those not on the list to see themselves as part of the project.
They said the victory of APC will be the continuation of more good things to come to Kwara State, adding that it is a project that all must work together to win.
All members of the party must see themselves as campaign managers and deliver their respective polling units and wards, the chieftains said.
They said the administration of Governor AbdulRazaq has been good for everybody and every community, thereby making things easier for the party in the state.
The chieftains said what the governor has done is evident across various rural communities, adding that the statistics are improving in health and education and the likes and patriots will not allow Kwara to go back to retrogressive old days.
The director general of the campaign council,Alh Yahaya Seriki, who said APC will sweep all the elective positions from the federal to state levels, added that,” there are only two parties in Kwara State – APC and other parties.
Legal icon, Barr. Titus Ashaolu (SAN) later administered the oath of office on the campaign council members.
