2023 Kwara Central: Be Careful, Saliu Mustapha Turaki Cautions Oloriegbe To Desist From Frequent Personal Jabs

Mallam Saliu Mustapha, the APC senatorial candidate for Kwara Central, has advised Senator Ibrahim Oloriegbe to refrain from making frequent personal jabs in his campaign for the elections in 2023.

The FidelinfoNews gathered this was contained in a statement released on Saturday in response to another outburst by Dr. Oloriegbe, the outgoing senator from Kwara Central, Saliu Mustapha made this request.

Despite the fact that the APC senatorial candidate avoided naming anyone in his lengthy statement, it served as a clear rebuttal to Oloriegbe’s efforts to cast doubt on the results of the APC primary poll in Kwara state.

Saliu Mustapha claimed that the outcomes of the senatorial primary elections represented the preferences of local party leaders and members.

Mustapha urged leaders of the party to temper their words and utterances in public places in order not to derail the modest gains already made by the party at the state and nationally.

“While I assert that the outcome of our primaries represents the democratic choice of the largest majority of party members who freely exercised their franchise, I appeal to leaders of our party to leave a legacy of being good sportsmen. We should also avoid comments that do not unite the party and its members, notwithstanding our personal feelings,” said Mustapha, who is also the Turaki of Ilorin.

Once more, how the candidates and leaders handle the outcome is more significant than the conclusion of any democratic fight. Shadow elections are a case in point. We will keep reaching out to and fostering unity among our party’s rank-and-file. Continuously attacking someone personally, especially party leaders, serves no useful purpose. As leaders, we are better judged by how we respond to defeat in the polls and the language we choose to express our sorrow than by how we celebrate success.

I urge all leaders to refrain from making statements that are not only untrue and unfair to delegates who made their choice but also hurt leaders whose silence and calm in the face of constant attacks is more about playing the bigger person and uniting the party than it is about being guilty of any accusations. This is true even as the party structure continues to bring everyone together behind a common agenda to secure a landslide victory at all levels for our party. Real leaders must always display restraint in their outbursts.