|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
By Kehinde Akinpelu, Ilorin
Ahead of the national convention of the ruling All Progressives Congress, (APC), a national chairmanship aspirant, Mallam Salihu Mustapha at the weekend asserted that he has what the party needs and that he is the right person to get the APC strengthened.
Salihu said that having him in charge of affairs of the APC will provide a platform to turn things around and sustain the vision of the party’s founding fathers.
“The ideas and ideals that drove the founding fathers to establish the APC was not new to me and that my membership of the party was not by accident”
“Being a member of the APC has to do with ideological conviction and that I have always been a member of political parties not seen as ‘conservative’ , saying ‘APC is an ideological pathway , I didn’t come to it by accident”
Salihu expressed this while responding to questions from reporters at the NUJ Press Center, Ilorin, kwara state capital where he attended ‘News Keg’ programme organized by the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Kwara state council.
Giving reasons for joining APC chairmanship race , Salihu said “I took decision to go into politics more than two decades ago, and considering the experience garnered as Deputy National Chairman of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) which was one of the political parties that were fused into one and made to become the APC, I was of a considered opinion that I still has more to offer the country and contribute my quota to purposeful leadership in the country cognizant that political party serves as vehicle for achieving control of government”
“I ventured into politics more than two decades ago, I was with Chief Olu Falae, I was in APP, ANPP and I was the Deputy National Chairman of the CPC , I have learned the ropes I have gotten the needed experience, I only need to be just and fair to all” he said
When asked if he had in anyway felt intimidated or got worried about having former governors and senators as co-aspirants, Salihu said “there was no need for such, the former governors also started from somewhere before getting elevated to national status”
Observed that discussions of the chairmanship race should not be seemingly reduced to ‘titles’ and ‘status’ but rather be made to center on offering good leadership saying ‘before they became governor, they were ordinary citizens , they were not born as governors or senators’.
Stressed that he would not expect his co-aspirants to consider it a ‘contest’ but rather an endorsement of what he represents-a generational shift that stands for a new face with fresh ideas.
‘It should not be somewhat a cult thing and the media should help us to change the narratives. They should not see us as one that is recycling faces, we have opponents seeking to win people’s hearts, if the electorate can see a new face with new ideas, let us say four million people are APC members, we will need others to vote for our party, how do we enjoy their support if we do not connect with the people?
That was why I expressed hope that my co-aspirants will not see it as a contest but rather an endorsement of what I represent’ he said.
Salihu, an indigene of Ilorin, clarified that his good relationship with Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara state was not new-found and that they had long before now enjoyed ‘a great relationship’.
‘I have had a longstanding relationship with the governor, don’t forget that I was the Deputy National Chairman of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and he was the CPC gubernatorial candidate in 2011”
He is the state governor and we are both APC members, we are working together to ensure we deliver on our campaign promises.
However, it is a good development that my state is seen as supporting me, all politics is local, I’m enjoying the support of my state’ he said.
Programme highlights include Salihu’s investiture as Patron of the Correspondents’ Chapel and the formal presentation of Hyundai bus he donated to the chapel to the Chairman, Correspondents’ Chapel, Mallam Abdul Hakeem Garuba.
Giving his acceptance speech, Salihu said he accepted the offer to be the chapel’s patron because journalists not only inform and educate the people but also mould people’s opinions and that he will therefore like to associate with such a segment of society.
