By Atabor Julius, Lokoja.
Last week gubernatorial declaration by Mustapha Mona Audu, one of the sons of the late former Governor of Kogi state, Prince Abubakar Audu has been denounced by the family.
Mustapha Mona Audu had on Thursday, in an elaborate ceremony in Lokoja, publicly declared his intention to run for the forthcoming gubernatorial election on the platform of the Young Progressive Party (YPP), the decision that has pitched him against the family.
Speaking on behalf of the late Prince Abubakar Audu’s family, Alhaji Usman Audu stated that the family had earlier warned him not to contest any political office outside the All Progressive Congress (APC).
Usman noted that his late brother, Abubakar Audu was a founder and promoter of APC in the state and had worked assiduously to make it a leading party hence his warning for the family not to ditch the party in his absence.
He added that the family has issued a disclaimer on Mustapha Mona Audu for jettisoning the political will of their late brother to announce his governorship ambition on another party platform.
According to him, “My brother, late Prince Abubakar Audu laboured for sixteen years to bring and nurture APC to where it is today in the state. He had told us to remain no matter what in the party before he died. Hence the family is solidly behind the government and the party in the state.
“The Chief of Staff to the governor, Edward Onoja is one of the political legacies of my brother. Onoja has been standing for the family since the demise of my brother. He is working in tandem with the philosophy of Prince Audu for the party and I see no reasons why Mona should abandon the legacy of his father for another party just because he want to be governor at all cost.”
The Orego Attah, Alhaji Tijani Audu, who is now the head of Audu family, is not happy with the ambition of Mustapha Mona Audu. He has reportedly talked to him many times not to go against the political philosophy of his father, late Prince Abubakar Audu.
“The family does not and will not support him in another party except in APC. We have warned him and now that he thinks he can do it alone, so be it. He should count the family out of his ambition as we have nothing to do with him in YPP,” he said.
It would be recalled that last week in Lokoja, Mustapha Mona Audu had declared his intention on the platform of YPP asking the people to support him to rescue the state from persistent rots.
He assured the state of purposeful and purposive governance that will engender all round development while boasting that seventeen political parties have considered his track records and have adopted him as their sole candidate in the November, 2019 governorship election in the state.
