21 of the 24 members of the Kwara State House of Assembly have described as baseless and unfounded a claim by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed that he funded the election of members of the Ninth Legislature in the state.
The members said the only individual who could claim offering the members massive support during the election was Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq who was the APC governorship candidate at the time.
The Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Engr. Yakubu Danladi-Salihu while reacting to the Minister’s pronouncement on the source of their election funding at a press conference in Ilorin the state capital said he did not in any form support the then APC House of Assembly candidates during the campaigns and election.
Engr Danladi-Salihu who spoke through the Deputy Speaker of the House, Honourable Raphael Olanrewaju Adetiba, a member representing Oke-Ero Constituency explained that Alhaji Mohammed was no here to be found at every point of the campaigns and election that produced the Ninth Legislature hence his claim to have personally funded their election is far from the truth.
"We ordinarily should have ignored the Minister and taken it as another lie from Lai Mohammed but for the unsuspecting members of the public and posterity, the record needs to be set straight," he said, flanked by several members of the Assembly.
The speaker said the briefing is jointly held on behalf of 21 of the 24 members of the Assembly who he said are convinced that Kwara can no longer be brought under any godfather or slave driver.
"Lai Mohammed did not give any support in any form to members of the 9th legislature during the campaign and election; if he did, he should name who and what he gave out. Could the Minister be mixing things up on account of his old age?" He said.
"For God knows reason, Lai Mohammed did not participate in any of our campaigns and did not also contribute financially to it. It was the then Governorship candidate of our party, the APC, who supported our campaigns all through. For the records, all the twenty-four members of the House of Assembly received financial support from His Excellency Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq for the purpose of prosecuting the House of Assembly election, so Lai Mohammed should please stop telling lie to the people".
The Speaker maintained that the then House of Assembly candidates only benefited immensely from the support of the then Governorship candidate of the party, Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq who he said gave them all the needed support to emerge victorious at the poll and wondered if Alhaji Mohammed has any pedigree to have been trusted by those he claimed donated money to him.
"Apart from the governorship candidate (His Excellency Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq), the other support was the sum of N500,000 each that we received from the national headquarters of our party, APC. Other than that, it was the Governor who funded our expenses including logistics, souvenirs, posters and other campaign materials. Even so, at no time did the Governor go about telling anyone that he funded our campaign"
"It is also laughable that Lai Mohammed could claim to have personally raised money to finance the 2019 general elections in Kwara State. The question that would readily come to mind is: What is Lai's contribution to his own Ward, Local Government, District and Kwara in general to have earned him respect and reputation for people to trust him and donate money to him".
The lawmakers advised the Minister not to drag them into any fuss he may be having with the Governor and leader of the part in the state, Mallam Abdulrazaq instead of concocting another lie to score cheap fame
Comments powered by CComment