"Saraki and I have no reason to dump APC"

The Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, on Tuesday said the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, he and other leaders of the All Progressives Congress in Kwara State have no reason to return to the Peoples Democratic Party, which they left prior to the 2015 general elections.


Ahmed in a statement by his spokesperson,   Dr. Muyideen Akorede, said insinuation that they were to leave the APC was untrue.

According to him,  recent interview with a newspaper, did not suggest that he was planning to leave, rather, he was stating the conditions under which he and other political stakeholders in the state left the PDP.

The governor emphasised that he, Saraki and other governors left the PDP due to impunity, disregard for the rule of law and lack of inclusiveness in the party at the time following extensive consultations with stakeholders and supporters.

He, therefore, declared that he, Saraki, other stakeholders and supporters were committed to the APC. He added that they currently had no intention to return to the PDP.

The governor also urged those commenting on the matter to read the said interview properly, rather than relying on social media headlines and insinuations to draw uninformed conclusions.

He also advised disgruntled elements within the APC that were urging him and Saraki to hasten their exit from the party to educate themselves with that interview and be appropriately informed instead of making what he called, ‘misguided comments’ on issues they had no knowledge of.

He restated his full support for the APC government of President Muhammadu Buhari.

He commended Buhari for his strides in governing the country and for the unprecedented federal projects in Kwara State, which he added, were aided by the intervention of Saraki.

Meanwhile, the Speaker, Kwara State House of Assembly, Dr. Ali Ahmad, has said that the Assembly has no intention to muzzle or gag the media.

He expressed commitment to freedom of expression as enshrined in the constitution, adding that such expression and freedom of the media must be within the confines of the law.

He stated that a recent resolution of the Assembly  was not meant to and should not be misconstrued to mean a clamp down on the media or the opposition.

The Assembly following what it called a flagrant disregard of the Code of the National  Broadcasting Commission, had urged the state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Kamaldeen Ajibade  to make a strong representation to the hierarchy of the NBC on the need for broadcast stations in the state to comply with the Broadcasting Code or face sanction.