National leadership of the All Progressives Congress, APC, as well as their state governors at the weekend spurned invitations to a reception organised by the Kwara State government in honour of sacked Sports Minister, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi.
Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi was on March 3, 2014 sacked by President Goodluck Jonathan for his body romance with the APC and doubtful loyalty to the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, among other contentious issues.
Kwara APC leaders had on Saturday organised a reception to welcome Abdullahi back home and invited governors elected on the party’s platform and the national leadership of the party to the event.
At the Ilorin International Airport, none of the invited guests turned up while only the state Commissioner for Education, Alhaji Saka Onimago, led the state government delegation to receive Abdullahi.
No reason was given for their absence. Even the state government was silent on the matter.
But at the Government House, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi was full of praise for Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed, who he said stood by him during his difficult times.
He said: “What else will I say Your Excellency, other than that, the Almighty Allah will reward you for the love that you have shown me today.
“I have never seen anything like this in my life, in my wildest imagination I did not expect that a day like this will come. As I stood in the vehicle waving to the tumultuous crowd all the way from the airport to the Emir’s Palace, I kept asking myself, what is it that I have done to deserve this?”
Governor Ahmed described Abdullahi as the best sports minister, Nigeria ever had, saying he left when the ovation was loudest.
“I was not surprised by Mallam Abdullahi’s achievements; he is a man of quality and the state is proud of him. Today (Saturday), we are welcoming home our own illustrious son who by all standards is the best minister of sports to have ever served in Nigeria.
“We are indeed very happy to receive you home. For some of us, we are not surprised about what you have done because you have always demonstrated that you are a man of quality, a man of target and a man of focus,” he said.
