A youth organization in the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara state, under the aegis of the All Progressives Youth Forum (APYF), has called on the national leadership of the party and incoming administration to sustain two ministerial slots for Kwara state considering the contribution of the party in the state to the overall victory of APC in the last general elections.
Speaking with journalists in Ilorin on Thursday, the state coordinator of the group, Tunde Salau, flanked by the coordinators in the three senatorial districts in the state, also said that criteria for the next appointees should be based on merit, loyalty and commitment to party activities at the state level.
“In addition to this, all appointments of federal board members, heads of parastatals, and relevant appointments due to Kwara State should be based on merit, commitment and loyalty to the party as against what we have in the outgoing federal administration where individuals who actively worked against the party were given appointments in APC led administration,” he said.
Members of the APC youth group, who said that they should be given reasonable consideration in terms of political appointments, such as board chairmen/members, heads of agencies, presidential and vice presidential aides, added that the group formed pillars said to have propelled the success of the 2023 Presidential election.
“We also appeal to His Excellency, Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq to consider the tenacity and devotion of our forum and reward our members accordingly,” he said.
The people, who said that Kwara state deserves and is qualified for leadership and other principal offices of both chambers of the National Assembly, added that the federal lawmakers from the state are committed and responsible party leaders, “and they have all performed wonderfully well in their respective capacities and deserve to be so recognized and rewarded.
“We have Senator Sadiq Suleiman Umar and Senator Lola Hashiru, both second-term Senators, at the upper chamber, while at the lower chamber we have Hon. Omar Mohammed Bio, Raheem Ajuloopin and Ismail Tijani who are all returning members.
“That Kwara APC youths should be given reasonable consideration in terms of political appointments, as board chairmen/members, heads of agencies, presidential and vice presidential aides, as they formed the pillars that propelled the success of the 2023 Presidential election. We also appeal to His Excellency, Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq to consider the tenacity and devotion of our Forum and reward our members accordingly.
“Finally, Kwara women also deserve special presence in the incoming Tinubu/Shettima-led administration, as their roles and support during the presidential campaigns were invaluable, and they crowned it with massive votes during the election. We appeal that competent, versatile and progressive-minded young women be considered.”
Kwara APYF said that it is only Kwara State that delivered near-perfect and incontrovertible election results for Presidential and National Assembly elections, adding, “We were able to successfully deliver the APC Presidential candidate with a landslide margin. The same applied to our elected National Assembly members; Senate and House of Representatives which include three Senators with two on return ticket and one first-timer, also all six House of Representatives members with three on return ticket and others being first timers.”
The group, congratulated the president-elect and the vice president-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Kashim Shetima, respectively, for scaling through all the hurdles and intricacies of internal and external political forces to emerge victorious at the end of the recently concluded 2023 Presidential elections, also congratulated Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq for his “well deserved” second term victory.
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