Should the spate of defections to the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) by members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other political parties in Kwara State continue, the PDP, in particular, may be in for serious misfortune. This is the current fear being nursed by many PDP chieftains.
Recently, the expansive Latara Hall, Ajase-Ipo Road, Ilorin played host to scores of defectors, ACN supporters and loyalists from within and other neighbouring ACN states.
It was an occasion for the celebration of the defection of some members of the PDP, Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) and Accord to ACN.
The defectors claimed they were leaving a “retrogressive and oppressive” PDP in the state to the progressive party, ACN.
Notable among the defectors are former PDP deputy governorship candidate in the 1999 election, Barrister Akinmade Yahaya Abolarin; former Commissioner and a leading light in the Saraki political dynasty, Chief James Ayeni, and a former PDP chieftain and ex-chairman of Ifelodun Local Government, Engineer Jide Usman.
ACN national publicity secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed; the party’s governorship candidate in the 2011 election, Mohammed Dele Belgore (SAN); representatives of Osun and Ogun state governors among others, were also on hand to receive the defectors at the colourful ceremony in the state capital.
Spokesperson of the defectors, Prince Shuaib Olanrewaju premised their defection on what he described thus: “The reason for our defection is premised on the fact that the state was among the original twelve states created since 1967, having nothing in terms of human capital and social transformation to justify the age of its existence. When we all joined hands with the PDP in the last year poll to deliver the state to the party, our expectation was that the good people of the state would be rewarded with good dividends of democracy.
“Unfortunately, unemployment, poverty and fraudulent political promises occasioned by the PDP’s bad leadership have become the order of the day. All around us, you find mortuaries of wreckage inflicted by PDP in the state. During the past nine or more years, we all have been running a political race, the spectators (the electorate) have been looking on (though not impotently). Our state is like a patient whose condition is daily deteriorating.
“There is the need for the state to be delivered from the hands of PDP that has constituted itself to a political demon and clog in the wheel of progress of the state. In order to achieve this political deliverance, it becomes imperative for all the progressive elements to join forces to fight these political oppressors and chase them away from governance. We promise to form a solid followership for the ACN to engender meaningful development in the state. We are declaring for the ACN today; we shall cooperate with the party from the ward, local, state to national levels to ensure the party’s victory in the 2013 local government election in the state and the national elections in 2015.”
Prince Kolawole added that “here and there, there are evidences of total falling out of the common people with the irresponsible government of PDP. We all know that this state is dead broke. We do know it too, we had to accept that it is so because workers’ salaries are not paid when due and few weeks ago, the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) threatened to go on strike over non-payment of their salaries and other entitlements.”
The ACN spokesman accused the PDP-led Federal Government of incapable of proffering solution to the nation’s problems.
He posited that the PDP-led government’s ineptitude had resulted in the alarming rate of youth unemployment, epileptic power supply and general infrastructural decay.
Maintaining that the PDP government had failed Nigerians, the Mohammed threw jibes at the party’s leadership for its spirited effort to defend President Goodluck Jonathan’s aide, Dr Doyin Okupe, over allegation of contract scandal levelled against him by the Benue State government
The PDP, Mohammed insisted, had never been truthful to Nigerians on any national issue, citing the “many lies the PDP government churned out to Nigerians on the illness of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua.”
He added that Nigerians deserved to know the exact situation of the health status of the first lady, Dame Patience Jonathan.
Lamenting what he called lack of development and dearth of infrastructure in Kwara State, Mohammed said that the PDP-led government in the state was in no way different from the PDP government at the centre, adding: “The PDP at the national level is not performing, so you cannot expect anything different at the state level.”
In his remarks, Belgore advised Kwarans to stop “suffering in silence” by teaming up with the ACN to sweep PDP away in the next general elections.
Belgore added: “ACN remains the only viable alternative to PDP and the party that genuinely has the interest of the masses at heart. It is becoming clearer that PDP has absolute nothing to offer. Kwara in 2012 is worst than it was last year. People are coming in droves to ACN and there is a lot more than what you are seeing. This decamping, you will keep seeing more as we go along. My charge to Kwarans is for them to defend their right, support the party that will protect their interest and advance their cause and development. It is no point suffering. Support ACN and we will rout that evil called PDP out of our state.
“This is not the Kwara state of my dream with these PDP people in power. What I’m seeing is a state of nightmares. It might be the dream of a few selfish people that are bent on plundering the state for their own personal gains, but it is certainly not my dream state and that of majority of Kwarans.”
