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| Lai Muhammed |
Having played
an important role in sustaining the presence of All Progressives Congress (APC) in
Kwara state despite the mass defection the party suffered recently, Alhaji Lai
Muhammed has cleared the air that he has no intention to run for any political
office in 2019.
The Minister of
information and Culture said this at a meeting in Ilorin, the Kwara State
capital, on Thursday. He said, rather than seek an office for himself at the
polls; he would rather work with others to protect the interests of Kwara State
and its people.
Recently, the ruling party suffered a deadly blow in
Kwara state when over 23 House of Assembly members out of 24 defected to PDP
with the governor of the state, Abdul-Fatah Ahmed immediately Dr. Bukola Saraki,
the senate president dumped APC for People’s Democratic Party.
The minister has been very keen in seeing the party survive in the state despite Saraki
Dynasty’s strong hold in Kwara politics. He said, “We can’t and won’t lose the
looming battle for the survival of our dear state and people”. All that is
required is for us all to subordinate our individual ambitions to the
collective efforts, work to wrest our state from the hegemony of one man and
his cohorts.”
Lai Muhammed stressed further, “On my own part, I can say
here without equivocation that I won’t be running for any office during the
forthcoming elections. For me, it is not about any clamour for office. It is
about working with all like-minds for the greater benefit of our people. Make
no mistake about it; the battle ahead will be tough. No one with power will
ever give it up easily,”
Also, the
minister has challenged stakeholders in the state to sacrifice personal
ambition for the collective interest, warning that failure to do that could be
detrimental to the survival of the state.
