By Amuda Dan Sulaiman Fab
The estranged National Financial Secretary of the National Rescue Movement (NRM), Reverend Emmanuel Olorunmagba has been warned to desist from speaking on behalf of the party because he is not the spokesperson of NRM.
Throwing more light on this, the Kogi State governorship candidate of NRM and Chairman United Progressive Political Parties (UPPP), Mallam Bala Abdulgafar Dirisu, explained that Olorunmagba is not the spokesperson of the NRM at the national level and therefore, cannot speak either for or interfere in the affairs of the party.
Dirisu described Olorunmagba as a meddlesome interloper because he is neither the party’s spokesperson nor a member of the United Progressive Political Parties.
According to him; “Olorunmagba is not residing in Kogi State. He is mostly in Kaduna state and knows nothing about Kogi politics.
The UPPP chairman stated this while reacting to a social media report which quoted Reverend Emmanuel Olorunmagba, accusing the state chapter of the NRM and UPPP for endorsing the governorship candidate of the APC, Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo.
Olorunmagba had in the report described the endorsement of the candidate of the APC in the November Kogi governorship election, Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo, by his party as a big scam, stressing that the entire structure of the party knew nothing about the endorsement.
“I read on Facebook where Reverend Emmanuel Olorunmagba said that no one can impose a governorship candidate on Kogi people.
“He is not the spokesperson of our party. The party at the national level will soon expel him following his anti-party activities during the last presidential and House of Assembly elections.
Dirisu continued, “Before the Kogi State chapter of the NRM endorsed, Ododo, all the party members met and the decision was unanimous. Our resolution was forwarded to the national secretariat of our party which finally gave it’s blessings.
“And in any case, we never said we are going to impose any candidate on Kogi people.
“Our decision was not done in a hurry. We carried out adequate background checks on all the governorship candidates of the various political parties in the state.
“We used a formula called the ‘4Cs,’ which are character, capacity, competence and compassion.
Dirisu further said the UPPP decided to work with the candidate whose ideology tallies with its own in terms of securing lives and property, infrastructural development, food security, education and human capital development.
“On this note, we urge all members of the UPPP to cast their votes for Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo in the upcoming November 11, 2023.
Recall that in Kogi State, five political parties under the aegis of United Progressive Political Parties (UPPP), in the State and their governorship candidates have endorsed the candidature of the All Progressive Congress (APC) flag bearer, Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo.
The political parties and their candidates are APP – Onaji Sunday, ADP Chairman Prince Yahaya Mamam, Boot – Muhammad Umar, NRM – Bala Abdulkadir Dirisu, and ZLP – Fatima Suleiman.
The Chairman of the UPPP and the governorship candidate of the National Rescue Mission (NRM), Mallam Bala Abdulghafar Dirisu, stated this during a press conference organized by the group in Lokoja recently.
