Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State says the opposition parties are telling lies on social media to hoodwink the public ahead of the general elections, advising the public against falling prey to their falsehood.
Speaking at the inauguration of the Campaign Council of the Kwara Central Senatorial Candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Mallam Saliu Mustapha at his campaign office, the Governor asked what the main opposition party is looking for despite mismanaging and looting the resources of the state during their time.
Governor AbdulRazaq told the party supporters that besieged the inauguration that the previous administrations looted and sold majority of the state’s assets to themselves and their cronies, saying that many of the projects they tout as theirs had been funded by the Federal Government.
The Governor said the achievements of the current government are visible to all in all sectors, including in the education sector where it has made judicious use of the UBEC funds unlike the former administration which looted the funds that accrued to them.
“ I want to congratulate those appointed to lead the Kwara Central Senatorial district campaign council. Their appointment shows their dedications and commitments to the party. Members of the main opposition party are spreading false information on social media. They had the opportunity to rule this state and they spent good sixteen years without having much impacts on the people. What exactly are they looking for again after causing so much havoc and underdeveloped the state?
“Those that are not capable to govern are wanting to return to power. They should tell the public if they are coming to loot the state again. They have sold some of the government’s assets to themselves for pittance. They embezzled government’s funds to build mansions in GRA. We recovered amusement park from them and they took the government to court. They had sold it to themselves at giveaway price to the detriment of the state. They had no regard for the monuments in there.
“When we came on board, we inherited backlogs of gratuities and pensions, non of the water works was working, basic schools were in dilapidated conditions. Today, we have paid billions of naira in gratuities and pensions we inherited and many of our schools are now in good shape unlike before,” the governor said.
Governor AbdulRazaq charged members and supporters of the All Progressives Congress to go with confident and campaign across the nooks and crannies of the state, calling on the people of the state to vote massively for the Turaki of Ilorin, Mallam Saliu Mustapha who had been using his personal money to empower the people and assist the poor for more than a decade without holding any political post.
In his remarks, the Director General of the All Progressives Campaign Council in Kwara State, Ambassador Abdulfatai Yahyah Seriki who spoke through the spokesperson of the Campaign Council, Mrs Florence Oyeyemi, said the campaign council is ready to canvass for votes for all candidates of the party in next year’s elections.
While delivering his speech, the Turaki of Ilorin and the All Progressives Congress Kwara Central Senatorial District Candidate, Mallam Saliu Mustapha, told members of the Campaign team that their nominations was a clear testimony to their individual capacity, industry and pedigree as result -oriented mobilizers, saying that their task as a team is to canvas votes, mobilise voters, and generally prosecute and win the 2023 general elections for the APC across board.
Mustapha charged the campaign team to run a decent, proactive, issue-based campaign, devoid of mudslinging, blackmail, name-calling, violence or any anti-social behaviours.
“ I’m particularly delighted to see the readiness on the faces of all of you. With this level of grit, determination and passion, I’m confident of our party’s victory at the polls. I want to express my gratitude to each and everyone for agreeing to undertake this important but highly demanding task”
“ Our task is not merely to deliver Saliu Mustapha as a Senator. Rather, we have the mandate to ensure that all the party’s candidates, including our Presidential flag bearer, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, win by a landslide in Kwara. While I have a strong belief in the capacity of this great team to deliver victory, and to do so through a fair and matured process; I should add that my expectation is that you will continue to uphold the principled campaign that we are known for “.
“ Going by our “Doing It Differently” slogan, I will expect that you will do things in ways that are different from the norm, that you will run a decent, proactive, issue-based campaign, one devoid of mudslinging, blackmail, name-calling, violence or any such anti-social behaviours”, he said
Mustapha said “ most of the members of the campaign team, especially the ward canvassers, would deal directly with prospective voters at the ward level. I enjoy you to deploy the training we’ve already availed you in your engagement with the people, and to work hard to deliver all the candidates of the APC in the Central district”.
The Turaki of Ilorin charged them to engage in mass mobilisation of party supporters and members of the public on the ongoing PVC collection, using some of the logistics already provided.
Mustapha pledged to continue to support the Campaign team and to ensure timely provision of adequate logistics in order to make their work easier, starting with the provision of fully equipped and functional offices in the four Local Government Areas, couped with operational vehicles to ease your movements.
While charging the campaign team to take the campaign to the grassroots, Mustapha said “ As you go out, please note that while we have consistently promoted the idea of doing things differently in the last couple of months, it is now time to show by our actions that ours is not empty sloganeering. In a first of its kind in our electoral history in Kwara State, our campaign will devolve heavily to the grassroots. We would take the campaigns closer to the people through the Local Government Area outreach and campaign offices”.
“ This is to afford us the opportunity to constantly engage and interface with prospective voters in order to better understand their individual and collective aspirations. In this campaign, we just don’t want to talk to voters, we also want to listen as much as possible. This is one of the cornerstones of our “Doing It Differently” mantra”, he added
Continually, Mustapha said if voted as the next Senator representing the people of Kwara Central, his legislative focus would revolve around human capital development, education, agriculture, development of infrastructure and supporting initiatives to foster security across the communities.
While tagging his campaign mantra’s acronym as “HEADS”, he assured that the five focal areas would be his priority, either in lawmaking, oversight or representation.
The Turaki of Ilorin who is the Director General of his campaign team, called on the media, particularly the social media operators to always verify information and ensure that to the public have access to undiluted or unfiltered information, describing media as a key stakeholder to the success of the 2023 general elections.
Earlier, the State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Prince Sunday Fagbemi, said the goal is to win all the elective positions in the 2023 general elections, calling on party’s supporters to campaign from ward to ward, and across local governments towards ensuring the victory of the party.
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