Dear Yinka Otukoko, sometimes, it’s golden to keep quiet if you’re ignorant of some facts. But since you’ve come out in the open with clear lies and misinformation, we owe the unsuspecting members of the public to clarify the points with facts.
1. First, the Turaki DID NOT donate N1.5m for the project. What he approved and has since been delivered was way, way more than that. But because we were urged not to disclose the sum donated, we would prefer to keep the information private in deference to the Turaki who believed that it’s not the money that matters but the impact the project would have on the communities affected.
2. Both the Turaki and us, the communities stakeholders duly acknowledged the pioneer efforts of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) and especially Engr. Bolakale Kawu Agaka on the project. For your information, both our letter of request for support and even the press statements from the Saliu Mustapha Foundation bore this much information. In fact, it was Engr. Kale Kawu that guided the process all through to the donation. So, it’s uncharitable to claim that their efforts weren’t acknowledged. Would you, Yinka Otukoko have shown similar good faith if you were in our shoes?
3. Yinka Otukoko claimed that it was Dr. Bukola Saraki that had facilitated the project in 2016. This is news to us as a community because the person (Engr kale Kawu) and relevant agency (REA & IEBDC) that made this happen are all in the public space. But be that as it may, if truly he had a hand in it, we appreciate him for it.
4. The difference however between the so-called facilitation by Saraki and Mallam Saliu Mustapha’s interventions is that whereas Saraki did that justifiably in his capacity as a Senator representing the district then, MSM did his own in his private capacity. Was it Bukola Saraki’s personal money that he used to build the substation? Is the substation Saraki’s personal property that no one else could contribute to for the benefit of the communities? Yinka Otukoko should answer this.
Dear Yinka Otukoko, it is not everything or everytime you should politicise issues that affect our communities.
It is even worse when you try to diminish the critical interventions of opposing political figures just in a bid to score cheap points.
Saliu Mustapha is not in competition with Bukola Saraki. He is playing his part all over our communities. Please don’t discourage him with your pettiness.
Lastly, we expected that you would make your points without going personal on the person of Tunji Buhari who stood by us all through. If you have a personal axe to grind with him, face him squarely and leave our communities out of your politics of hatred.
Hon, Rasheed Apado
Representative, Kulende-Sango Community