A chieftain of All Progressives Congress(APC) and advocate of “O To Ge” mantra in Kwara state, Alhaji L. A.K Jimoh, has said that the defection of some notable leaders of the party and the depletion in the party may pose a serious danger towards the party’s electoral victory in the 2023 general elections.
He, however, said that these leaders that have left the party were those that worked for the electoral victory of the APC during the 2019 general elections and this situation is an unfortunate scenario.
Jimoh made the remark in Ilorin in an interview granted to online medium in the state, Midland Post and obtained by journalists in Ilorin over the weekend.
According to him, “four former aggrieved members of the APC are now gubernatorial candidates on different political party platforms.
“It is a big minus to the APC, knowing fully well that they have formidable followers in the state”.
He added: “The four former aggrieved members of the party now contesting the gubernatorial election on different platforms include, Alhaji Yaman Shuaib Abdullahi, of the PDP, Professor Shuaib Oba Abdulraheem, of the NNPP, Alhaji Yakubu Gobir, of the YPP and Alhaji Hakeem Lawal of the SDP.
“The four aggrieved members played prominent roles and worked very hard to ensure the party’s victory in the 2019 elections, but were frustrated out of the party.
“Their defection to other parties has seriously depleted the APC, with serious implications for the ruling APC in the state in2023.
“The net loser is the APC, the party is shedding weight, none of them is bringing anything to APC now, today theyare against themselves.”
He noted that the party has been so fragmented and depleted by the attitudes of the aggrieved, the power holders and the national headquarters of the party, that it may be difficult to salvage the situation if the party waits another minutes
He said that the leaders of the party in the state were so selfish and more interested in what they would achieve, personally rather than the corporate success and existence of the party.
He blamed fragmentation of the party on the crisis which hit the party shortly after its victory in the 2019 gubernatorial election in the area with the incumbent Governor AbdulRahaman Abdul4azaq emerging as the winner.
Jimoh described the development as worrisome and a big problem which could be mended with sincerity of purpose by the leadership.
Jimoh, however, suggested that the way forward is for all aggrieved members to “swallow their pride in the overall interest of the party and the state,” adding “ you can stoop to conquer.”
On insecurity, Jimoh declared that it would be foolish of any Nigerian to think of insecurity affecting the 2023 general elections, because, “ the question we should ask is will we be alive till 2023 elections, if the current insecurity across the country is not checked?.”
He noted that, “nobody is safe in the country today, you could be attacked and killed anytime, anywhere, a stitch in time saves nine,” hence need for government to take the bulls by the horn and take drastic action on the matter.”
