“No more G1, G2; We are one big family” — Saraki welcomes Saliu Mustapha, Kolo Jiya to PDP, calls for unity

Former Senate President, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has called on members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara State to put aside past divisions and unite ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Saraki made the call on Wednesday when he hosted the Senator representing Kwara Central Senatorial District, Senator Saliu Mustapha, PDP Kwara North Senatorial candidate, Dr Baba Jiya Kolo, and their supporters at his residence in Ilorin.

Mustapha recently resigned from the All Progressives Congress (APC) and joined the PDP, while Kolo emerged as the party’s senatorial candidate for Kwara North.

Welcoming the two political leaders and their supporters into the PDP, Saraki described their decision to join the party as a courageous step towards rebuilding, developing and advancing Kwara State.

According to a statement by his Press Officer on Local Matters, Abdulganiyu Abdulqadir, Saraki commended Mustapha and Kolo for their courage, while urging PDP members across the state to embrace one another and work together.

He said members should accommodate one another across wards and Local Government Areas, stressing that the party could no longer afford internal divisions.

“There is no more G1 or G2; today, we belong to one big family and should operate as such,” Saraki said.

In a light-hearted remark, the former Senate President noted that Mustapha’s ability to recognise members of the PDP structure by their faces and names demonstrated that he had a good history with the party’s political structure.

Saraki urged the party’s members and candidates to remain focused on the 2027 elections, identifying the APC administration of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq as the common political opponent the PDP must collectively defeat.

He also emphasised the need for power-sharing and inclusive governance, urging PDP candidates to remember the sacrifices of the people and ensure that the dividends of democracy reach all sections of the state if elected.

Mustapha Thanks PDP Leadership

In his remarks, Senator Mustapha expressed appreciation to the PDP leadership under Saraki, the State Working Committee led by Hon. Issa Adamu Bawa, and party elders across Kwara for the warm reception accorded him and his supporters.

Mustapha, who is the Turaki Ngeri of Ilorin, recently dumped the APC, joined the PDP and obtained the party’s nomination form to contest the Kwara Central Senatorial District seat.

He pledged to work with the PDP family to bring an end to what he described as “the dictatorship of a monster who believes Kwara is his personal property estate.”

The senator also urged PDP members to work together to end what he described as the governor’s “shenanigans”, insisting that the people must reclaim their political power.

He said the ultimate goal should be to establish a political culture in which whoever occupies the seat of power in Kwara understands that “the power belongs to the people.”

Dr Baba Jiya Kolo, the Hasken Patigi, has also emerged as the PDP senatorial candidate for Kwara North.