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Tag: Mohammed Dele Belgore

  • ‘Let us build on Presidential/NASS election victory’

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara state Mohammed Dele Belgore at the weekend urged party members to work assiduously for the success of APC governorship candidate Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq and other candidates on Tthe March 9 polls.

    Belgore, a 2011 govenorship candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) advised party members to build on last Saturday’s victory for APC to again emerge victorious at the poll.

    The senior advocate of Nigeria gave the advice when a group known as 02 Liberation Movement under APC paid him a visit in celebration of the party’s victory at the presidential and National Assembly elections.

    Alhaji Belgore noted the victory for their struggle only created an open opportunity, saying that the victory is not complete until all APC candidates win the governorship and  state House of Assembly seats.

    Chairman of the group, Alhaji Hassan Owoyale explained that the visitation has been organised for 20 elders of the party across the state.

    He added those elders stood solidly behind the struggle for the Liberation for Kwara State.

    Alhaji Owoyale said that the APC ideology to ensure a better life for Nigerians inspired the group to recognise and stand with them and enjoined people of Kwara state to go out enmass to vote for all APC candidates.

    The Liberation movement group also visited Alhaji Olosasa, Alhaji Musa Maiyaki, Dr Saliu Ajia, Barrister Lanre Sulyman, Dr Amuda Aluko among others.

     

     

  • Belgore withdraws from Kwara governorship race

    One of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirants in Kwara State, Mohammed Dele Belgore, has stepped down.

    Belgore, who was the governorship candidate of the rested Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Kwara State said he  took the decision in the collective interest.

    In his statement, Belgore said: “I hereby announce that I am stepping down for my brother Alhaji Abdulrahman Abdulrazak and urge all my supporters to back his aspiration.

    “I take this decision in the larger interest of our people, the unity of our party and to enable us move forward towards the change we all desire.

    “I thank all members of my family, our supporters and the people of Kwara State for their overwhelming support since we entered the race. I can’t thank them enough!”

  • Belgore’s supporters join APC

    Belgore’s supporters join APC

    Members of the Mohammed Dele Belgore (MDB) Solidarity Team have defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State.

    The defectors, who are majorly from Ilorin West Local Government Area, hinged their defection on leadership crises and Belgore’s inaccessibility.

    The leader of the group, Mr Moshood Abdulsalam from Ajikobi Ward, said: “Our defection is in the best interest of Kwara State. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been destroyed by corrupt state excos and the leadership tussle in my local government has left the party in disarray.”

    He said Belgore was insensitive to his supporters and hailed Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed’s efforts on youth employment and empowerment.

    The defectors, who submitted their PDP membership cards to the APC leadership in Ilorin West, led by Alhaji S.B. Olarewaju, praised Senator Bukola Saraki for providing “purposeful leadership” and pledged to work with him for the state’s development.

    Belgore’s media aide, Rafiu Ajakaye, said: “Our support base remains intact and stronger than it has ever been. We are not aware that anyone from our camp has defected to anywhere.

    “We recall that back in February, the APC addressed up to four news conferences to express its frustration at Belgore’s defection to the PDP. Just last month, the APC issued up to three press statements alleging that Belgore sponsored the disruption of the voter registration. We have since taken legal action on that reckless allegation.”

     

     

     

    “Only a few months ago, the APC sponsored a faceless group called the MDB Solidarity Group to defect to the drowning party, only for an individual mentioned in their story to deny them.

    “Rather than concentrate on addressing their unpopularity problems with the people of Kwara State, they are wasting their time celebrating nonexistent defection of Belgore’s supporters.”

     

     

     

     

  • How to tackle insecurity, by Belgore

    How to tackle insecurity, by Belgore

    Kwara State  Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain  Mohammed Dele Belgore (SAN) has reflected on the security situation, urging Nigerians to support government’s efforts.

    He said the Boko Haram insurgency is a national headache, which can only be cured through collective effort.

    Belgore called on federal and state governments  to collaborate in the fight against terror.

    The governorship aspirant spoke in Ilorin, the state capital, at the official inauguration of the Jonathan  Actualisation Movement. His keynote address was titled: ‘Security challenges, peace and sustainable development in Nigeria.’

    He said: “When there is collaboration, problems are better addressed and solved. A good example is the current struggle against the Ebola virus that has unfortunately been dumped on us.”

    He pointed out that the Boko Haram crisis cannot be resolved by the President or Federal Governments without the assistance of Nigerians.

    Belgore added: “The collaboration between the Lagos State and the Federal Government has helped tremendously to curb what would have been a major national calamity. There have been no finger pointing, personal insults or abuses of any kind. The two parties have worked closely together and are now winning the battle.

    “There is a big lesson for us all in this, as we combat the Boko Haram menace. That lesson is that, if we work together, we can overcome all the security challenges we currently have.”

    The legal luminary called on the government to also address the “main causes of insecurity,” which  include “youth idleness due to mass unemployment, lack of hope for a better tomorrow, religious fanaticism, desperation, ignorance, exploitation, misguidance, indiscipline, poor leadership and societal influence.”

    Belgore said: “Government must come off the thinking that giving N20,000-a-month-job to a few  youths would ebb their restiveness.

    “We have to provide our youths with gainful employment that will keep them away from all antisocial activities. Employing a few thousands youths and paying them a stipend like N20,000 per month is not it. There needs to be massive job creation to employ millions of people,” he added.

    “Both the federal and state governments need to work together on the creation of our own equivalent of the ‘Marshal Plan’ that was established in Europe after the second World War to put the millions of people back to work.”

    Belgore urged the government to bring  to bring perpetrators of crimes to book to reduce the culture of tcrime.

    He added: “We shouldn’t just be tough on Boko Haram and their likes, on cultism, kidnapping and urban violence, we should dig deep and be tough on the causes of such crimes. This is not to suggest that there is any valid justification for those crimes, but, we should critically examine societal problems that make young men and women easy preys to such crimes – issues of unemployment, falling moral standards, declining parental responsibility, and decaying educational system.

    “Addressing the crime without addressing their possible causes would merely be scratching the problem on the face. It would not make for a lasting solution.”

     

  • 2,000 declare support for Ahmed, Saraki

    2,000 declare support for Ahmed, Saraki

    Belgore: we are not surprised

    Over 2,000 youths under the aegis of the Mohammed Dele Belgore (MDB) Solidarity Group announced yesterday their support for Kwara State Governor AbdulFatah Ahmed and Senator Bukola Saraki of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    The MDB Solidarity Group was the youth megaphone of Mohammed Dele Belgore before his defection to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    The group’s State Coordinator, Obalowu Olaitan, described the defection of the 2011 governorship candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) as embarrassing.

    Olaitan announced the group’s dissociation with Belgore’s defection, saying all lovers and defenders of democracy are irked by his action.

    Said he: “The forum condemns the defection of MDB when Kwara is in high political competition for development; the action has been informed by self-centred ambition to the detriment of Kwarans and Nigerians.

    “In the interest of well meaning Kwarans and Nigerians, we officially dissociate our forum from the MDB political movement and subsequently announce our merger and harmonisation with other progressives and vibrant youths of the state to be known and addressed as APC TEAM Kwara.”

    But Belgore’s media aide Rafiu Ajakaye said: “We are not in any way surprised at Olaitan’s action.

    “There is no such group as the MDB Solidarity Group. The group of youths allied to Belgore is MDB Solidarity Team. They missed it. We wish Olaitan and his backers well.”

  • Belgore: KWSIEC, PDP desperate to win council poll

    Belgore: KWSIEC, PDP desperate to win council poll

    •Party: victory expression of people’s confidence

     

    A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State, Mohammed Dele Belgore (SAN), has accused the State Independent Electoral Commission (KWSIEC) and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of desperation to win last Saturday’s local government election.

    Also, a former member of the House of Representatives, Bashir Bolarinwa, described the election as falling short of standard and impugning on the integrity of the people.

    KWSIEC, on Sunday morning, declared the chairmanship and the councillorship candidates of the PDP the winners of the election.

    Belgore, who was the governorship candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the 2011 governorship election in the state, said: “We watched in amazement the desperation with which the Kwara State Government, the outlawed New PDP in Kwara and KWSIEC held the local government election, whose outcome was already known, even before the election was held.”

    In a statement by his media aide, Rafiu Ajakaye, the APC chieftain added: “The gold prize of utter irresponsibility goes to the KWSIEC for displaying brazen disrespect for the law and decorum by proceeding to conduct an election, when court cases challenging the legality of the guidelines and timetable for the election are still pending.

    “For the record, the guidelines used for the election are non-existent in law, because the law backing it had ceased to exist, following an amendment to it by the Kwara State House of Assembly. The Assembly hurriedly changed the 150-days notice of election, contained in the State Electoral Law, to 90 days, to comply with the constitution of Nigeria.

    “Why did the KWSIEC proceed with the election, whose guidelines had been issued pursuant to a defective law? Why did KWSIEC not issue fresh guidelines, to comply with the new law? What was the rush, knowing it is violating the law and that the whole exercise amounts to a nullity?

    “And where did KWSIEC see the over 800,000 votes it claimed were cast in the sham election that recorded some of the worst voter turnouts in history? For instance, about 18 of the 20 people who responded to a question by Ilorin.info on Twitter and facebook, on Saturday, said they did not vote because they felt it was a one-party affair and that there was no point wasting their precious time.

    “The report of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the election also said enough on the abysmally low turnout of the poll. Funny enough, these over 800,000 votes are those credited to the New PDP candidates alone, because nothing was said of the votes scored by either the Labour Party (LP) or the SDP, the two parties that took part in the mockery of democracy. “The votes credited to the PDP far outweigh the entire votes cast in the 2011 governorship election involving the ACN, ACPN, CPC and PDP!

    “This sham election is an act of desperation by the Kwara State government and they confirm to the world that irrespective of their posturing, they are not champions for the cause of the people or democracy. They are only serving their self-perpetrating agenda. As they lose ground everyday at home and at the national level, the local government poll clearly was a face-saving measure for them to remain relevant. “Such disrespect for the law and public morality can only earn them further ignominy!”

    Bolarinwa noted that the “the absolute neglect and apathy of the electorate to that election speaks volume”.

    The former lawmaker likened the poll to “a typical African setting of the old, where our people considered it the ‘leprous fingers’ of Saraki and co-travellers on a misadventure and therefore stayed away from it”.

    He added: “It baffles the simple logic that the KWASIEC took us many steps backward in Kwara when it declared fictitious, scandalous and outrageous figures in an election where there was no serious contenders.”

    But PDP’s spokesman Alhaji Mas’ud Adebimpe said the party’s victory was an expression of the people’s confidence in its leadership.

    “The massive turnout of the electorate for the elections, despite the absence of strong opposition, was also confirmed by independent local and national observers who participated in the exercise.

    “Having tried in vain to stop the free expression of the people’s will, Belgore has embarked on a vain attempt to discredit the elections,” Adebimpe added.