PDP, APC Bicker over Buhari’s Visit to Kwara for Campaign

Hammed Shittu in Ilorin

The Director-General of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Campaign Council in Kwara State, Professor Alli Ahmad, at the weekend alleged that  there was a grand plan by the state government to use the presidential campaign of All Progressives Congress(APC) slated for  Tuesday in Ilorin to woo President Muhammadu Buhari to unveil uncompleted projects in the state.

He said the alarm became imperative in view of what may be adverse effects if such inauguration is done during the visit.

President  Buhari will on Tuesday  lead  the APC Presidential Campaign Council to Ilorin, the state capital,  to canvass for votes for the APC presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and his vice presidential candidate, Alhaji Kashim Shettima.

Speaking at a press conference in Ilorin, the Professor of Law and immediate-past

Speaker of the state House of Assembly, said: “The PDP is always base its comment on issues and not on personality, and that is the reason we are alerting President Buhari and the people of Kwara State on this alleged impending move by the state Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq-led administration in the state to unveil some uncompleted projects during the visit of the president to Ilorin on January 17.”

According to him, “Governor Abdulrahman is fishing for projects to present to President Buhari to inaugurate.

“He is on a voyage of discovery on how to save his image before President Buhari, who is well known to have no regard for the governor because he had heard the stories of his alleged  misrule and his fixation on ego-tripping, score-settling, and making family rivalry an art.

 “Some of the following uncompleted projects itemised to be inaugurated or visited by the president for inspection include Yebumot Hotel road, Tailors Shop aka ‘Garment Factory’, Innovation Hub, ICT Centre,  International Conference Centre and Brig. Gen. Tunde Idiagbon Flyover.”

While the federal government is encouraging states to establish cargo terminals to stimulate the export of goods thereby boosting our foreign exchange earnings, the DG said: “Kwara State governor converted our completed cargo terminal established by previous administrations to a tailoring shop while fraudulently tagging it ‘Garment Factory’, so any innocent minded person would be misled to think it is a garment production factory.

“This is nothing but a large tailoring shop located on the premises of an airport. This thoughtless action is not considerate of the fact that untrained workers would have access to restricted and dangerous areas within the Ilorin international airport.

“We, therefore, beseech President Buhari to ask Governor Abdulrazaq why, unlike other APC first-term governors who have delivered many projects within their first 44 months in office, what he has done with the billions of naira in federal allocations, humongous internally generated revenue, aids, grants, development partners’ funds and the unprecedented debt burden he has plunged the state into, that he could not find a completed landmark project worthy of the president’s attention.

“The need by the governor and his administration to resort to a desperate conspiracy to deceive Buhari is not only condemnable, but it also is pitiable and should be rejected.

“We call on President Buhari to distance and dissociate himself from this fraud. He should simply visit Kwara State for his campaign, deliver his message to the electorate, and leave without being stained with the falsehood being machinated and concocted by Governor Abdulrazaq and his cohorts in Kwara State.”

But, in its reaction, the APC Campaign Council said: “President Buhari is coming on Tuesday to just flag off the presidential campaign in Kwara State, while a different date will be announced for the grand inauguration of different impactful projects such as the largest Intensive Care Unit facility in North Central, “which is the first functional ICU facility in the state.”

The party, however, in a statement issued at the weekend by the Publicity Secretary of the campaign council, Mrs. Olasunbo Florence Oyeyemi, said: “PDP will definitely cry out its heart next month when the President Buhari is billed to be in the state to inaugurate some legacy projects executed by Governor AbdulRazaq.”