The All Progressives Congress, APC, in Kwara Central Senatorial District has condemned the unprovoked violent attack on a chieftain of the party, Alhaja Tawakalitu Agaka, following her successful empowerment programme in her hometown in Ilorin at the weekend.
In a statement by Memudu Turawa, APC Chairman, Kwara Central, the party called on PDP elements to rather convince the people of the state why Kwara should go back to the era of collapsed school infrastructure, dehumanisation of women and the elderly, unpaid salaries, zero promotion, pervasive fear and stunted physical and economic growth.
“The PDP should be civil in its approach to issues. Citizens are at liberty to pursue their political aspirations in an atmosphere that is devoid of violence, harassment or intimidation.
“The violence, harassment and intimidation against Alhaja Tawa Agaka are condemnable. That she and many other APC chieftains come from Agaka, where the PDP governorship candidate, Alhaji Kawu Agaka, comes from should not expose them to danger of any kind,” the party said.
“We call on the police and local traditional authorities to caution everyone who is involved in such uncivilised behaviour. Beyond being a grassroots politician, Alhaja Agaka is a mother, grandmother, wife and a proud community leader.
“We will not watch while she or anyone is molested by the PDP. The party must immediately call its members to order. This is neither 2003, 2007 nor 2011 when dissenters were muzzled without appropriate consequences.
“Anyone who goes overboard will be reined in appropriately by the security agencies,” the ruling party warned.
The party called on the security forces, especially the police, to identify those who attacked and harassed Alhaja Tawakalitu Agaka.
In its reaction, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the state called on Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to immediately caution his overzealous aides and agents who have resorted to insulting and criminalising innocent citizens simply because they stood up to reject what it described as a last-minute, politically motivated gesture.
The party said it found it deeply disturbing that an aide of the governor, reacting to the people’s rejection of the political show organised by the APC Women’s Leader in Agaka, casually labelled an entire community as “thugs and hooligans” and attempted to drag the names of respected political leaders into the matter.
In a statement by the party’s State Publicity Secretary, Olusegun Olusola Adewara, the PDP described the comments by the Kwara APC and the AbdulRazaq administration as absurd and insulting, saying they were a clear reflection of the growing frustration within the government due to the overwhelming rejection it is facing across the state.
“The truth is that the AbdulRazaq-led APC administration is becoming overwhelmed by the wave of rejection confronting it from one end of Kwara State to the other.
“The people who confronted the APC team in Agaka were neither PDP members nor thugs. They were concerned residents who have lived with the consequences of the administration’s failures in their community and cannot be swayed by emergency and petty politically motivated N5,000 empowerment.
“How can a government agent in his right senses then tag an entire community as thugs and hooligans simply because the people are conscious enough to reject a once-in-four-year Greek gift?
“That commentary was not only absurd; it was an insult to the conscious and peaceful people of Agaka,” Adewara said.
The PDP further questioned the timing of the intervention, asking where such gestures had been since 2023.
“The question is: where were these sudden interventions and political gifts from 2023 until now? Why is the government suddenly introducing ‘Dibo ko sebe’ politics in Agaka, a community populated by entrepreneurs and businesspeople, and expecting them to accept a N5,000 gift from the APC Women’s Leader at a time when the political atmosphere has clearly turned against the administration?”