I Have No Knowledge of N800m Funds to Kwara APC in 2019 Polls, Says Bolarinwa  

Hammed Shittu in Ilorin

Ex-All Progressives Congress (APC) Chairman in Kwara State, Hon. Bashir Bolarinwa, has said that he has no  knowledge of N800 million allegedly handed over to the party by the then national chairman of the party, Adams Oshiohmole, for the prosecution of the 2019 governorship election in the state.

During that election, the APC in Kwara State swept all the seats in both the state and national assembly elections. 

The party won the governorship election with the emergence of the incumbent governor, Alhaji AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.

But Senator Oshiohmole recently at a public event in Abuja claimed that the party expended over N4 billion to win the Kwara, Imo and Ogun states governorship elections in 2019.

Speaking with journalists in Ilorin, yesterday, on the allegation by Oshiohmole, Bolarinwa said that “I am saying this as the state chairman of APC that led the  O To Ge movement in 2019 in Kwara State that I am not aware of the money.

“Though APC’s victory in the election was one of the major achievements of the then Adams Oshiohmole-led national APC, but I was and still not aware of any N800 million given to the party in Kwara State.”

“I am not saying that Senator Oshiohmole does not know what he is saying, but I am sure he would know the person he handed over the money to and where the money was collected,” he added.

Bolarinwa noted that “it is disturbing that after the electoral victory of the APC in Kwara State, most of the people that worked for the success of the party were sidelined and abandoned during the period.

“Even, all the efforts  made to the national secretariat of the party under the caretaker chairman of the party under Governor Buni to enable him intervene were rebuffed because the caretaker chairman and his cohorts had made up their minds not to support Bola  Ahmed Tinubu for anything but we thank God today.

“It is unfortunate that the crisis created has continued to linger.”

On President Bola Tinubu’s administration, the two-term federal lawmaker urged Nigerians to bear with the administration.

“I served under Tinubu when he became governor of Lagos State in 1999.

“Initially, that time too things were tough as he was trying to put things right.

“Later on things picked up an became better and Lagos is still enjoying it till tomorrow. By the grace of God Nigerians will soon be laughing.”