Lai Mohammed: “As a founding member of the APC, as someone who has toiled endlessly to build the party and as one who has worked with stakeholders to deliver Kwara State to the APC, leaving the party is not an option. I am a bonafide member of the APC and I have no intention of leaving the party.”
By Emma Ogbuehi
For those speculating on the political future of the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, quitting the All Progressives Congress (APC) is not on the cards.
Mohammed, a founding member of the APC has had a running battle with his state governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, over who controls the party structure.
The governor has had the upper hand in the supremacy fight leading some to conclude that Lai Mohammed may dump the ruling party before the 2023 elections.
The speculation heightened with the report that some of his supporters in the state had already joined the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
But Lai Mohammed on Tuesday appealed to aggrieved members of the party in Kwara State to reconsider their decision.
The minister made this known in a statement where he urged the defectors to return to their “natural habitat” for their grievances to be addressed ahead of the 2023 elections.
Lai Mohammed said, “My attention has been drawn to media reports on the alleged defection of some of my supporters in the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara to the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
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“I wish to state categorically that despite the fact that the supporters are genuinely aggrieved at the way and manner they have been treated by the Kwara State Governor and his supporters, against the backdrop of their immeasurable contributions to the massive victory of our party in the state in 2019, leaving the party is not the solution.
“We have taken the grievances of our supporters to the highest level of our party, and we have cause to believe that everything will be done to address the grievances and unite the party ahead of the 2023 elections.
“I am therefore appealing to those who may have left to reconsider their stand and return to their natural habitat.
“On my part, as a founding member of the APC, as someone who has toiled endlessly to build the party and as one who has worked with stakeholders to deliver Kwara State to the APC, leaving the party is not an option. I am a bonafide member of the APC and I have no intention of leaving the party.
“All through my political career, I have always remained loyal to any party in which I have found myself. That is not about to change now.
“I want to use this opportunity to once again call on the leadership of our party to urgently and decisively address the issues that have forced some members of our party in Kwara to contemplate leaving the party.”