Former Senior Special Assistant to Kwara state governor, Alhaji Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq on Poverty Alleviation, Mr. Muhammed Abubakar Sheko and the Young Progressives Party (YPP) Assembly candidate for Okuta-Yashikira State constituency in the forthcoming election, Mr. Muktar Kilishi and other three thousand members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Baruten local government area of the State have publicly defected from their political parties into the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) ahead of the forthcoming general elections.
Also defected include some executive members of APC at Shiya-Boriya Ward in the local government area. They are, Assistant Financial Secretary, Mr. Idris Sanni Muhammed, local government executive member, Mr. Mahmud Abdullahi and Ward Treasurer, Mr. Ibrahim Abdullahi Bata in the local government area.
The development according to checks might not be unconnected with the ongoing consultations of the former Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki and other leaders of the PDP with the people of Kwara North senatorial district stakeholders that include royal fathers, opinion leaders, Muslim and Christian leaders, politicians among others.
Saraki, the party’s governorship candidate for this forthcoming election, Alhaji Shuaib Yaman Abdullahi and PDP leaders have continued to tour all the parts of Kwara North Senatorial district for almost two weeks now so as to woo the people of the senatorial to back their son, Alhaji Yaman Abdullahi that hails from the senatorial.
They have taken their consultations to Edu, Patigi, Moro and Kaiama local government areas of the state.
However, at Baruten local government over the weekend, some major stakeholders in the APC led by the former Senior Special Assistant on Poverty Alleviation, Mr. Shako and YPP state assembly candidate in the local government area announced their defection from their parties to the PDP.
Speaking on behalf of the defectors, the former governor’s Aide, Mr. Sheko told the gathering at the Shiya town that, the APC has allegedly underdeveloped the local government area since the APC led government got to power in the state.
He said that, “I left Gov. Abdulrazaq government because of non performance.
“My community has not benefited anything from our struggle that unseat the PDP in 2019”.
He added, ” If it’s about personal benefits, I wouldn’t have resigned or left the APC but Gov. Abdulrazaq has failed in infrastructural development and direction”.
Sheko however promised the leaders of the PDP led by former Senate President, Dr. Saraki, party’s gubernatorial candidate, Alhaji Yaman Abdullahi among others that they would work assiduously to deliver all the PDP candidates in the forthcoming general elections in the state.
Receiving the defectors, Dr. Saraki decried the non performance of the APC led government in both federal and state levels of the country.
He said that, the development has led to the inflicting of pains and sorrows on the people occasioned by the ongoing fuel scarcity, poverty, high cost of food stuff, new naira redesigned policy, insecurity among others.
Saraki who also used the occasion to call on the people of Kwara North Senatorial to rally round their son in person of the party’s governorship candidate, Alhaji Abdullahi and all the PDP candidates in the senatorial so as to rescue Kwara from the hawks leading the state.
He called on the defectors to see their joining of PDP as a home coming and worked seriously to bring PDP back to power come this general elections.