A 2019 gubernatorial candidate of Abundant Nigeria Renewal Party (ANRP) in Kwara State, Dr Abdulmumin Yinka Ajia, yesterday threw his weight behind the second term ambition of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Ajia, who defected to the APC before the conduct of the 2019 polls, said his vision for change was in tandem with what the ruling stood for in the last general elections, hence his resolve to leave his former political party.
Addressing a media briefing in Ilorin yesterday, the erstwhile gubernatorial flag-bearer informed that his decision to join forces with the APC back then was devoid of monetary inducement as alleged in some quarters.
Ajia clarified that his defection to the ruling party in 2019 was anchored on change, which was the desire of the people of the state.
He added that Kwara is better off in the hand of the APC and had moved forward from where the immediate past administration left it.
“Up till today, I’m still a member of the APC and AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq is the gubernatorial candidate of the APC. Then, I’m obligated to support him. Tomorrow, if I’m no longer a member of the APC, then that obligation does not exist. As long as we are in the same political party, he (Governor) has my vote and my support.
“The APC government in Kwara State has done very well; it has moved Kwara forward from where the former Governor left it but we still have a lot of work to do. A lot of our campaign promises need to be revisited and we need to do better. Definitely, we are better off with the APC compared to where the former Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed left us.
“As per me not been feasible politically, that is why I’m against career politicians. You suppose to have a trade; be a farmer, a journalist. Don’t sit around, jumping from one occasion to the other.
“In 2019, the choice that we faced in Kwara is between staying at status quo or moving forward with the change. I am with the vision for change and my message has continued up till now. Somebody else had a better momentum of winning the race. After I have made my case to Kwarans and we were not getting the momentum, it was clear to me that the other alternative was to support the other opposition that had the momentum, who is now the executive Governor of Kwara State, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.
“I’m happy that he is alive. Nothing transpired between him and I. I’m giving everyone the liberty to ask even though the press have access to him. There was no monetary inducement between myself and him. And the person that said something like that, who happens to be the Chairman of the ANRP is in court right now defending himself.
“But I am ready to face anyone at any time, at any place to defend myself, to say that I’m contended with what Allah has done for me, that I’m not interested in anyone’s money; they don’t have enough money to buy me, that my conscience cannot be bought, that the reason why they came into the political process is different from the reason why I came.
“I do not have a business today in this process. I am a concerned citizen. I refused to see from the sidelines. Go and ask the Governor; he is on Ahmadu Bello Way (Ilorin). That I said that I never collected anything from him. I never asked him for anything. I did what I had to do because I believe that we needed a change in Kwara State. So, I am happy that we have gotten the change.
“Have we gotten everything that we want? No. Can one man do all the work? Is it possible for one man to get everything done? No. But are we fair from the way we were in 2019? Yes”, Ajia said.
At the media briefing, the former gubernatorial candidate threatened a law suit against the former Chief Press Secretary to the immediate past Governor of Kwara State, Mr Wahab Oba and one Mustapha Abdullahi for publishing a malicious article against his person, arising from his legal tussle with the 2023 governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Mr Shuaib Yaman Abdullahi.
