Saraki denies joining PDP despite APC’s spat with family

Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development, Sen. Gbemi Saraki, has debunked a social media story that she has unofficially joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara State.

This is despite the squabble between her party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), and her family. In a statement, yesterday, signed by her media consultant, Moses Bello, the minister denied joining PDP and supporting its gubernatorial candidate in Kwara, Shuaib Yaman.  

The statement noted that the minister worked tirelessly to ensure the APC candidate, Bola Tinubu, won the presidential election in Kwara, despite disagreements with the APC-led state government in aggressively deconstructing the late Olusola Saraki’s legacies. 

“Senator Saraki has stated categorically that she remains an APC chieftain both in Kwara and in the country, and has no intention of leaving the victorious party. If anything, she is even more committed to ensuring the success of the incoming Asiwaju/Shettima administration come May 29. 

“Numerous groups in and outside Kwara lauded the minister for putting aside the unflattering attempt by the AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq administration in decimating the Saraki family when it demolished parts of Ile Arugbo, the ancestral home of the late patriarch of the Saraki dynasty, and pursuing the eventual victory of APC against her brother, Bukola Saraki of the PDP, in the general elections,” he stated.  

He added that the minister, who had a chequered political career, remained one of the powerful forces in Kwara politics as a grassroots mobiliser and pledged her continued allegiance to President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration as well as Tinubu.