Kwara 2019: Stop dropping Saraki’s name, Sulaiman tells co-aspirants

A Peoples Democratic Party gubernatorial hopeful in Kwara state, Professor Abubakar Olanrewaju Sulaiman, has challenged other aspirants in the race for 2019 governorship election to come out clear on whom they were and stop leveraging on other peoples’ integrity.
The former minister of national planning, particularly challenged his co-aspirants in the PDP to stop dropping the name of the national leader of the party, Dr. Bukola Saraki to deceive delegates ahead of the party primaries.
“Let’s everyone of us bear our fathers’ names, I am Abubakar Olanrewaju Sulaiman, a bonafide son and indigene of Ilorin from Ajikobi ward in Ilorin West.
“I have all it takes to be the governor, if it is knowledge they want to boast of, I am also knowledgeable , if it is experience they want to boast of, I also have cognate experience.
If it is loyalty, I am also loyal right from the days I served under President Goodluck Jonathan.
“And one thing I have which they lack, is agility.
I am a youth, healthy, agile and vibrant” the former minister told his supporters at a declaration rally held at his Ajikobi ward at the weekend.
Amidst cheers from a mammoth crowd that stormed the Ajikobi ward office of the PDP located side by side with that of the All Progressives Congresses, Sulaiman stormed the area with his large supporters who chanted different songs to welcome him.
It was a hectic day for security agents to control both human and vehicular traffic following the motorcade that accompanied him to venue of the declaration.
The trio of the Senate President, Dr.
Bukola Saraki , Sulaiman and the APC governorship aspirant and former Chairman, Federal Character Commission, Professor Shuaib Oba Abdulraheem hail from the same Ajikobi ward.
While Sulaiman and Saraki are in the PDP, the former FCC boss who is also seeking to govern the state in 2019, is with the APC.
Addressing the crowd, Sulaiman assured his supporters that the PDP would emerge victorious in the 2019 general elections because majority of those who defected in 2015 have now returned to the party.
The Professor of Political Science said, Saraki, whom he described as the “only leader we have,” remains a strong force in Kwara and Nigerian politics.
Speaking on why he should be considered as the party’s flag bearer, Sulaiman recalled that he created jobs and secured federal appointments for Kwarans within 10 months he served as a member of the Federal Executive Council.
He added that several people have also benefited from training opportunities abroad which he facilitated as parts of his contribution to human capital development of the state.
“If I could do this for 10 months, I will do better if given the mandate to govern the state”, he assured.
He said for the PDP to wriggle out of the “gang up against it,” the party must produce a candidate from Kwara Central and Ajikobi ward, a job which the aspirant said he is eminently qualified for.
Other speakers at the declaration include former Commissioner for Women Affairs, Hajia Asiata Ayinke Saka, Chairman, Kwara State Universal Education Board UBE), Comrade Abdulkareem Lambe, and several others who all canvassed for Sulyman’s candidature.