KOWA denies endorsing Buhari, says it’s ‘a failed attempt to launder failure’

Leadership of KOWA Party has issued a strong disclaimer against its reported endorsement of President Muhammadu Buhari for a second term.

KOWA National Executive Committee (NEC) said the news came as a rude shock to the party and described the purported endorsement as nothing but ‘a failed attempt to launder failure’.

The name and signature of the party’s national chairman, Saidu Bobboi, were published in a full-page advertorial in today’s ThisDay newspaper as among the national chairmen of some political parties that endorsed the re-election of President Buhari in the February 16, presidential election.

However, the national headquarters of the party has come out strongly against the endorsement through a statement issued by the party’s national secretary, Comrade Mark Adebayo, at KOWA national headquarters in Abuja on Thursday.

Reiterating that Buhari’s government is a “complete failure”, the party’s NEC said KOWA remained a member of the Coalition of United Political Parties (CUPP) and is actively participating in all activities of the union leading up to the emergence of Ex-VP Atiku Abubakar as coalition candidate.

“It has come as a rude shock to the Party’s National Executive Committee of KOWA Party that the Party’s name was published as among political Parties purported to have endorsed the incumbent president Muhammadu Buhari for second term. KOWA Party was never and will never be part of such thoughtless and shameless contraption of endorsement. As far we are concerned it fake news!

“We urge all KOWA Party members and supporters across the country and Diaspora to completely disregard such sociopolitical sacrilege against the noble spirit and cause that KOWA Party represents. KOWA Party will never support the complete failure that the Buhari government represents.

“That was why the Party joined the Coalition of United Political Parties and has actively participated in all its activities leading up to the emergence of Ex-VP Atiku Abubakar as coalition candidate.

“KOWA Party remains an integral part of the CUPP and cannot, just a few days to the presidential election, commit such an irresponsible and ridiculous volteface to endorse a government we have consistently criticised for the aggravated backwardness, insecurity, unprecedented corruption, arrogant nepotism, cluelessness and cabal domination as attested to even by Mrs. Aisha Buhari, the president’s wife.

“KOWA Party is standing on solid abutments of honor and ideological integrity that can’t just be rubbished so brazenly and shamelessly. We therefore strongly and unequivocally dissociate the Party from the endorsement of President Muhammadu Buhari”.

Responding to a telephone interview with Ripples Nigeria on the matter when he was asked what would become of the alleged N100 million reportedly collected by the endorsing parties each, Comrade Adebayo who also doubles as the party’s Chief Executive Officer as enshrined in the party’s constitution said:

“Well, if anybody collected N100 million to endorse Buhari he or she did so at his/her own peril, not on behalf of KOWA Party. Those who gave the money knew who collected such cursed money from them and know how to recover their corrupted money. No such amount or any amount for that matter for such shameful action was credited into KOWA Party’s account. The creditors must surely know who their debtor is”.

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Asked if he had confirmed from the national chairman if he was involved in the endorsement, he retorted “I don’t have to confirm anything from him. He knows he doesn’t have such constitutional authority or power nor mandate to commit the party in that manner without prior and official consultations and official approval by the National Executive Committee of the party at least. And, I know him well enough to affirm that he won’t violate the party’s constitutional in such a flagrant way. Saidu Bobboi, to the best of my knowledge, won’t do such a thing. We are close and have been political allies for years. I consider it fake news”, he insisted.

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