Saheed Popoola: How Lai Mohammed BETRAYED Offa People over LGA “I just had a meeting with Sen. Bukola Saraki now. And I told him that the number one thing that is important to me now is the return of Offa council to Saheed Popoola. We can’t take less than that. Everything else may follow, but Offa council must be returned to us. And between me and God, Sen. Saraki promised me that he would return it to us….However, if he refused to grant the request, then he should forget about merger!” With the above quoted statement, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the controversial Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) set the tone of the acceptance of former members of the PDP who defected to the APC by original APC members in Kwara state. He made the statement on the 9th December 2013 at exactly 1:46pm at his Helen Ogbuefu’s street private residence, off pipeline road in Ilorin, when he was meeting with stakeholders of the Party from Offa local Government and others. But Mr. Mohammed did not reveal all that transpired between him and Bukola Saraki that day. Although he told the party members that he discussed the return of ‘Offa mandate’, he did not tell them of Mr. Saraki’s disapproving and reluctant body language. He did not tell them that by the time Saraki called in the state Attorney General, Barrister Kamaldeen Ajibade, to review the election petition papers with a view to orchestrating a judicial abracadabra, he met a dead end, and gave a negative response. And the most shocking, he did not tell them that he received a whopping 4.5 million Naira from Mr. Saraki, ostensibly to keep his mouth shut and stop nagging on Offa. He did not tell them all this but kept promising them till the very end! In fact, Mr. Mohammed still made the promise during his last visit to the state. He told party faithful, who gathered yet again, this time at his campaign office (LAMCO) along Offa garage also in Ilorin, that Saheed will be council Chairman again! But instead of the impressionable Party faithful to receive the statements with cautious optimism, they all took it hook, line and sinker! Not even the seasoned politicians, who were seated at the December 9 meeting saw through the half-truth that Mr. Mohammed was dishing out to them. Alhaji Mohammed Asada, Alhaji Shuaib Abdullahi Sanda, Alhaji Soliu Mustapha, Alhaji Tunji Buhari, Alhaji Taiwo Eleja and a host of other APC big names all clapped and rejoiced. They all kept thanking the ‘leader’ for a job well done. Lai Mohammed at the APC meeting where he promised return of Offa council And funny enough, the man of the moment, Mr. Saheed Popoola himself, was seated somewhere close to the palatial house entry point, in company of Mr. Bode Towoju and Hon. Tope Olayonu, all smiling and jubilating, with the hope that he had found a reliable fighter in Mr. Mohammed. The shout of “Ifokanbale” (Mr. Popoola’s political slogan and nickname) rented the air. Mr. Saheed could not conceal his joy as he nodded in absolute respect to whatever Mr. Mohammed was saying. However, the first shocker came the way of the Offa community on Monday, January 13, when the election petition tribunal, sitting in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital, struck out the petition filed by Mr. Popoola challenging the controversial council election. That day, the hope of Offa community to regain their hard-earned mandate was shattered. And almost immediately party faithful got wind of the development, they all converged on the Party secretariat in Offa, with a spontaneity that has distress written all over it. They fumed, nagged and even cursed. They were disappointed in Mr. Lai for ‘fooling’ them into believing that the council chairmanship would be theirs in a jiffy. Saheed Popoola: Commissionership as a compensation But it was too late; Popoola had lost the chance to return to the Council for life! The milk had spilt, and there was hardly anything either Mr. Bukola Saraki or Lai Mohammed could do about it. But Offa people are sad. They are fuming with anger. Saheed Popoola is annoyed. Hon Tope Olayonu, Hassan Oyeleke are mad at Lai. They are wondering how they would go back to their home town without the promise of the return of the council chairmanship fulfiled. The compensation of Mr. Popoola with a commissionership slot not withstanding, they are not happy. But they can only grumble; they can only bark but lack the gut to bite. They are afraid of what awaits them if they talk truth to the powerful Lai Mohammed. They are not the only one troubled and aggrieved. The APC leaders, across the state are grumbling and complaining silently. They are regreting the day they allowed Lai Mohammed into their fabrics, but like the main actors here, they dare not speak out!
Posted on: Thu, 30 Jan 2014 05:53:24 +0000
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