ANOTHER MINISTER FROM SOUTH WEST WOULD BE MOST UNJUST AND UNFAIR. KWARA DESERVES TWO SLOTS AND HAS A COMPETENT CANDIDATE


Being Text of a joint Press Conference addressed by youth groups in Kwara State on the pending appointment of Minister for youth.


25th August, 2023.


Gentlemen of the press,

We, the leaders of the various groups represented here welcome you to this auspicious media conference on the very important subject of the impending nomination of the minister of youth by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. While we have come across the push by the APC youths in the South West for the position, it is our belief that having produced the President and earned 9 ministerial slots, the region should be fair to cede the outstanding youth minister position to other zones in the spirit of justice and equity. We know Mr. President, as a fair-minded leader, must be reasoning along this line.


Having just lost the APC National Chairmanship position to the North West, a zone that also has the largest number of ministerial positions in the cabinet, the North Central deserves to be compensated. Meanwhile, in the north central, Kwara deserves a special consideration owing to our near 100% performance in the election that brought Mr. President into office.


About a month to the inauguration of Mr. President, specifically on the 4th May, 2023, one of the groups here, the All Progressives Youth Forum (APYF) addressed a press conference and demanded two ministerial slots for Kwara State on the basis of the near-perfect and incontrovertible election results delivered by state in the 2023 Presidential and National Assembly elections.


Also laying the fact that the kind of love and ovation Mr. President received in Kwara during his endorsement tour remains second to none in the nation.
This translates the understanding of Mr. Presidents good intentions for Nigeria by Kwarans and this loyalty was further asserted by Kwara's voting pattern during the APC presidential convention held in Abuja


Kwara was also able to successfully deliver the then APC Presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu 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.


Aside the fact of the obvious contributions Kwara State made to the election victory of Mr. President, we also noted at the time that we do not ask for consideration merely on the basis of our contributions during the election. We also appealed that appointees from the state should be individuals who have merit, loyalty and shown strong commitment to the party.


On both counts (politics and competence), Kwara is well qualified. Speaking of quality and ideal candidate, we make bold to present a worthy ambassador of Kwara youth, one who has been a founding member of the party and made significant contributions to its growth in the person of Mohamed Funsho Abdullahi.


Having been a founding member of the All Progressives Youth Forum (APYF), a youth group founded in 2013 ahead of the successful merger that birthed the APC, Abdullahi has stayed true to his progressive ideals, variously serving the party in various capacities, starting as the Kwara State Coordinator of the APYF between 2016 and 2018, then becoming the North Central Coordinator of the same group as well as the Chairman of the Coordinators' Forum until 2021. Since then, he has served as the National Publicity Secretary of The Progressive Forum (TPF) till date.


In the mainstream party activities, Abdullahi was Secretary of the Ondo State Senatorial Primary Committee in 2022, while he recently served as the Deputy Director of the directorate of youth mobilization for North Central in the 2023 presidential campaigns. Aside his well known contributions to the development and progress of the APC, he is also not a pushover in terms of competence. Having bagged a Masters degree from the prestigious University of Manchester in England, he has worked variously in both the private and public sectors for over a decade and half. As a civic advocate and youth development practitioner, he is indeed well suited for the role of the minister for youth affairs. His capacity to motivate and inspire the youth demography has in fact been recognized by the Regional Leadership Center of the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), a United States Government initiative, which in 2019 admitted him as a mentor in their Accra RLC. In December, 2020, Abdullahi was also appointed by the government of former President Muhammadu Buhari to serve as a member of the Technical Working Group (TWG) for the preparation of the Medium Term National Development Plan 2021 - 2025 for Nigeria.


Indeed, we are confident that Abdullahi has all it takes to effectively man the youth ministry. At just 41, he is within the age brackets that imbue him with the right attitude to effectively connect with the youth, and he is not too young to also relate with the elders and other senior appointees. He is a perfect bridge between the young and the old, and therefore a suitable candidate to occupy the position of minister of youth affairs.


We appeal to their excellencies, Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq (CON) and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR to give this young and versatile Kwaran the second ministerial slot that Kwara State deserves. We the progressive youths of the APC across board in Kwara State are solidly behind the nomination of Mohamed Funsho Abdullahi and we again appeal to the President to kindly look into our submission. We have the absolute conviction that Abdullahi will do the President and Nigerian youths proud.


Read by:


*Comrade Tunde Salau*
For and on behalf of the following groups:


1. The Kwara State Progressive Forum


2. All Progressives Youth Forum (APYF), Kwara State


3. Forum of APC Kwara Central Young Stakeholders


4. Kwara Progressive Ladies in Politics (KPLP)


5. Kwara Youth Agenda (KYA)

6. Kwara Emerging Progressive Frontiers (KEPF)

7. Youths' Alliance for Tinubu (YAT), Kwara State Chapter

https://prudentwatch.com/kwara-apc-youth-groups-advocate-for-equitable-representation-in-ministerial-position/

I see

Why are they crying like they are cursed. Are they not part of Northern Nigeria again? We have more of ministerial appointees in the North than any other regions.

gbaskiboy:
Why are they crying like they are cursed. Are they not part of Northern Nigeria again? We have more of ministerial appointees in the North than any other regions.

Are u sure u not the possessed one. U can make ur comments without sounding like an asinine