Patigi Bye-Election: Speaker Danladi denies rumored imposition of candidate
The Speaker, Kwara State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Salihu Yakubu Danladi today, denied rumor of his moves of imposition of candidate in Patigi State Constituency, to replace late Hon. Ahmed Saidu Rufai in the forthcoming bye elections.
In a press statement sent to THE INFORMANT27 by the Spokesperson to the Speaker, Sheriff Ibrahim, he said, “We would like to state that the rumoured moves of imposition of candidate to replace the late Honourable member, whose demise is barely a month, more so, in a local government outside the Hon. Speaker’s constituency is ungodly, unthinkable, irrational and can only be conceived by desperate individuals bent on dragging the Rt. Hon. Danladi’s name into the pursuit of their selfish interest.
“Death is inevitable, but we never expected Hon. Ahmed Saidu Rufai to depart from us this soon; hence, the entirety of 9th Kwara state House of Assembly is yet to recover from the shock caused by his demise. It would therefore be evil for anyone to think we would hastily want him replaced, when we know death is a debt we all owe.
“It is pertinent to also state that the All Progressives Congress has its constitution that guides handling this kind of contingency and every member or group under the party should be acquainted with that, as such, we advise the group to play by the rules and not overheat the polity for any reason whatsoever.
“We therefore want party faithful, the good people of Patigi and Kwarans to be rest assured that Rt. Hon. Salihu Yakubu Danladi is not aware of, neither is he overtly or covertly involved in any scheming for replacement of his late colleague and cannot be lured into getting involved in any act capable of undermining due process or breach of peace over bids to replace the deceased Honourable member.”
He further assured the public that the Speaker will never be involved in any act of imposition of a candidate for Patigi State Constituency, insisting that due process would be followed in producing a candidate that will represent the good people of Patigi Constituency.
He said, “While praying the soul of Hon. Ahmed Saidu Rufai continue to rest in peace, it is advisable for any interested political group, within or outside the party to avoid being rabble rousers or peddle falsehood and subtle blackmail in pursuit of their political interest, as it is unhealthy for our democracy.”
