PDP In Kwara State’s Dead, Says Defected Members

Former members of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara State yesterday insisted that PDP in the state is dead. They were reacting to a statement credited to the chairman of Federal Character Commission (FCC), Professor Oba Abdul- raheem, who said the party remained strong and vibrant despite the recent defection of PDP henchmen to All Progressives Congress. Speaking at the weekend, Professor Abdul-raheem, a former Vice-Chancellor, University of Ilorin, who had once worked with a former governor of the state, Dr. Bukola Saraki, one of the defectors, while celebrating the exit of the former PDP chieftains, lamented that the state had been unfortunate “with the quality of leadership it has been saddled with in the past decade”. But in a swift response, former Secretary of the PDP, Prince Yemi Afolayan in a statement on Monday, rebuked the former VC, saying that it was “uncharitable” for Abdulraheem to condemn the state government which he said was instrumental to his current political influence. Majority of PDP members in the state including Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed and his predecessor, Saraki, had defected to APC leaving behind few members of the Saraki dynasty controlling the PDP. Continuing in its rebuke of the FCC chairman, Afolayan described Abdulraheem’s comments as mere fallacies, saying he was merely exhibiting his literary prowess as a don. He stressed that it was “uncharitable” for the scholar to condemn the state government “simply because he decided to wait and eat the crumbs from the table of the party (PDP)”. “Nigerians cannot forget that whatever political influence he has today is courtesy of the government of Kwara state”, the statement added. Noting that the government in the last 10 years had transformed the state, the former state PDP scribe assured that the 2014 budget proposal recently submitted by the government projected ample employment opportunities and social development for the state. “APC is the party of the progressives. There is no gain playing with a dead party, the PDP. In Kwara state, PDP is dead. No amount of lies and twist of language can change the reality”, Afolayan insisted.