The Kwara State Coordinator, Atiku Youth Wing, Akanbi Ilyas Shola has decamped from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) .
Shola who is also the former House of Representatives aspirant under the banner of PDP said he is joining the APC in order to actualise his dreams and make positive changes in the lives of his people.
He therefore drummed support for the second term bid of the state governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.
Ilyas who claimed to have recently led the PDP ‘Osuwa’ rally, announced his defection at a news conference he addressed in Ilorin, the state capital.
The decampee said he decided to dump the PDP because of the party’s lack of youth inclusion in its programmes at both the state and national levels.
He hailed Governor AbdulRazaq’s administration’s youth friendly programmes and polices, noting that the governor has deliberately made youths very important allies by appointing them into key political and government offices.
According to him, he has realised through experience and exposure that the youth need a government and party that cares about their inclusion in politics to develop the country which is lacking in the PDP.
He lamented that the PDP has failed to give up the stage by recognising the youths in every matter related to the success of the party stressing that throughout his lifetime, he has remained a loyal and committed frontline member of the PDP.
“In December 2022, I led some group of people to organise a town hall meeting tagged: “Arewa Decides Project 2023” to awake political consciousness among the youths in Kwara State”.
“It is also on record that on the 19th of January, 2023, I led Ilorin East/Ilorin South Osuwa Constituency rally across some streets of Ilorin to raise support for the PDP.”
“Alas, it has dawned on me that the PDP has not learnt any lesson from the defeat of 2019, particularly on youths inclusion,” he declared.
Shola disclosed that for days, he has pondered over the words of some stakeholders whose advisory note led him to trace the failure of the PDP, their inability to recognize the youth constituency as an integral part of the party, and also the game-changer of the country’s political terrain. I was in awe of the pathetic situation.
He said no administration in the history of the state has given opportunities to the youths to showcase themselves like the administration of Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq in the last three and half years.
According to him, it is therefore incumbent on Kwara Youths to support Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq who is reputed for massive.empowerment of the youth stressing that under his administration, the youths are being supported across different sectors.
“It is quite disheartening that the PDP in which I toiled day and night failed to take the youth into account. They failed to recognise that the future belongs to youths. On this note, I have come to terms with making a bold statement and joining hands
with the true progressives in the APC in order to actualise my dreams and make positive changes in the lives of my people” he stated.
N.O
