APC Campaign Council: Lai Mohammed’s Kwara South protests exclusion

From Ogundele Olanrewaju

Leaders and stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) from Kwara South have protested the alleged exclusion of zone members from the party’s Presidential Campaign Council (PCC).

Kwara South is the senatorial District where Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, hails from. Mr Mohammed, an erstwhile close ally of APC presidential candidate Bola Tinubu himself was not named in the 422-man strong list.

Adebayo Daramola, APC elder and secretary general, Kwara South Consultative Forum (KSCF), protested the exclusion in a statement issued on Sunday.

He said such exclusion was an affront to the collective sensibility of APC members from the zone.

Mr Daramola added that it would not augur well to exclude the zone that had sacrificed more for the party.

Mr Daramola expressed worries over the development, adding that all the names released were from Kwara Central and this remained a great concern that must be rectified without delay by the party’s leadership.

He said this is how marginalisation began but added that such must not be allowed to stand as it would jeopardise the party’s unity in the state.

He said the lopsidedness should be holistically addressed in a comprehensive manner that would bring about cohesion in the APC.

“We should not entertain the impending marginalisation because our fear is that if Sen Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the party, eventually wins, I hope we won’t be facing the same in future appointments,” he said.

Mr Daramola also frowned at the alienation of Kwara North from the campaign council, stressing that such exclusion could destabilise the party ahead of the general elections.

He urged the governor to intervene to forestall the danger of such exclusion immediately.

Members of the campaign council that made a list from Kwara in the just released names include Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq, La’Aziz Jimoh, Issa Aremu, Sen. Bashiru Ajibola and Issa Onilu.

Others are Rahman Giwa, Gbemisola Saraki, Ibrahim Oloriegbe, Is’haq Modibbo Kawu and Baba Rasaq, the governor’s younger brother.