…Leadership is about accountability, not arrogance, says former Saraki ally
*Dantsoho is a political merchandise — PDP
…says he swallowed Saraki’s money meant for sick ward chairman in Kaiama
By Mike Adeyemi
The former Kwara State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) youth leader and Special Assistant on Chieftaincy Affairs, Prince Haliru Dantsoho Mahmud, the Dan’iyan Kaiama, has broken his silence on the circumstances surrounding his exit from the party and his rift with former Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki.
Dantsoho said his demand for accountability over the alleged disappearance of funds reportedly released by the PDP national leadership to prosecute the 2023 general elections was the beginning of his strained relationship with the party leadership and what he described as his illegal suspension from the party.
The Kaiama Prince disclosed this recently while speaking with our reporter at his residence.
According to him, his demand for transparency should not have been interpreted as an affront to the party leadership, insisting that accountability remained an essential component of responsible leadership.
“I still don’t know when it becomes an affront on leaders in this clime for followers to demand accountability and transparency to the extent that they take offence at it. Such an act is alien to me,” he said.
Dantsoho attributed the PDP’s poor performance in the 2023 elections in Kwara State to several factors, including the power of incumbency, but maintained that the party could have won some legislative seats had the alleged funds been properly deployed.
“There are lots of factors that made Kwara PDP lose the 2023 elections. Part of it was the power of incumbency.
Secondly, if we had spent the money that was released, at least we would have gotten some seats in the House of Assembly. The only thing we couldn’t have gotten would have been the governorship.
“But greediness did not allow the leader to release the money he collected for the purpose of the election. I felt bad that the leadership was not transparent. Dr. Bukola Saraki didn’t even tell us that he had collected money, and as executives, we were supposed to know. It is a party matter. He was not the party executive; we were.
“Because Dr. Bukola Saraki felt he had nothing to tell anybody, he avoided meeting with us. On that note, I made a video and sent it to him online, demanding to know how the money he collected was spent.
“To that effect, he directed that I should be suspended illegally. I appealed at the national level, and I won. The moment I won the appeal, they felt bad and were planning some crazy things, and I honourably resigned,” he said.
The Kaiama Prince added that shortly after his resignation, there were insinuations that he had been suspended or expelled by the party, describing such claims as false.
“The moment I resigned, they were now saying the party expelled me. How do you expel somebody who defeated you at the national level?
“Instead of them to come out and address the question by saying that we did not receive any kobo, or that we received 10 kobo and this was how we spent it, there was nothing of such.
“They thought they could intimidate everybody, that you would see wrongdoing and you could not talk because of the fear of someone. No! I don’t fear anybody. I only fear God.
“I fought the battle alone, and I told those who started the battle with me earlier to back out that I did not need them to fight the battle. I did this because I had facts that money was given, and if I am now asking how much, who collected it and how we spent it, I don’t think I have gone beyond my boundaries.”
Dantsoho, who described himself as a former ally of Saraki, said his experience had strengthened his belief that accountability should be a fundamental principle of political leadership.
“Leadership is about accountability, not arrogance. Any leader who says, ‘Who are you to question me?’ is not a leader; he is a dictator. He is a tyrant.
“Oftentimes, it is we Nigerians who allow some leaders to manipulate us. When they offend us, we will still be the ones to kneel down and beg them.
“The fact that you are a supporter should not make you subservient. You should humble yourself rather than become subservient.
“As a leader, if you do something right, you will not tell us before we go on air to praise you. The same thing applies when you are wrong; we should be able to question you. That is leadership, and nobody is anybody’s servant except if you allow yourself to be subservient.
“Kwara PDP always thinks everybody can be fooled. No! I am an exception, and that is exactly why I fell apart with Dr. Bukola Saraki and the PDP.
“I am happy that since the day I asked that question in 2023, up till this moment, nobody has made any attempt to challenge me that I was wrong,” he said.
However, Dantsoho stressed that his decision to demand an explanation over the alleged use of the 2023 election funds should not be interpreted as a personal battle against Saraki.
“I am not fighting Saraki. He is not my enemy. I accepted him by virtue of his age; I accepted him by virtue of the offices he had held. He is my leader, and while I was with him, I was very loyal.
“There is nothing I didn’t do for Saraki. I went to 30 states, campaigning single-handedly with my resources for his presidential ambition in 2019. And he knows this.
“I was driving myself, using my car to mobilise youths and statutory delegates, and it was successful, but for the error of former President Muhammadu Buhari not signing the Electoral Act that captured statutory delegates. So, we went to that election without statutory delegates.
“So, if anybody says that because I asked Saraki about the whereabouts of the party’s released funds, I was no longer loyal to him, that is nonsensical.
“What I did for Saraki, none of his followers can match it. What all of them do is eye service. They gossip about him to my face.
“I know a lot of people in the party who gossip about him. The fact that I asked for accountability should not be mistaken for rudeness or arrogance on my part.
“To me, that is the best template for a leadership and followership relationship,” the Kaiama Prince affirmed.
…Dantsoho is a political merchandise — PDP
…says he swallowed Saraki’s money meant for sick ward chairman in Kaiama
The Kwara State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has dismissed allegations by its former youth leader, Prince Haliru Dantsoho Mahmud, the Dan’iyan Kaiama, that his expulsion from the party was connected to Dr. Bukola Saraki.
The party said Dantsoho was expelled by his own ward executives in Kaiama Local Government Area over alleged anti-party activities, corruption allegations and other offences.
The PDP Publicity Secretary in Kwara State, Olusegun Adewara, stated this yesterday in a telephone conversation with our medium while reacting to allegations made by Dantsoho.
According to Adewara, Dantsoho’s alleged “array of atrocities” while serving as the party’s youth leader culminated in his being queried by his ward executives before he was eventually expelled.
“He was expelled right from his own ward. Dr. Bukola Saraki is from Ilorin West Local Government, Ajikobi Constituency. He is not from Kaiama.
“Dantsoho, as a drowning politician, wants to cling to any available object he sees, thinking such objects will save him,” Adewara said.
He further alleged that Saraki once sent Dantsoho to Kaiama to deliver money to a sick party chairman, identified as Hon. Usman, but that Dantsoho allegedly failed to deliver the money.
“This is a guy who Saraki sent to Kaiama to deliver money meant for a party chairman who was sick, in the person of Hon. Usman, but Dantsoho swallowed the money. As a result, the man eventually died from his ailment,” Adewara alleged.
He also accused Dantsoho of failing to meet expectations while serving as the North-Central youth leader responsible for distributing COVID-19 intervention funds which, according to him, Saraki had facilitated for Kwara and other states in the region.
“He was in charge of the North-Central youth leaders who were to distribute COVID-19 money that Dr. Bukola Saraki facilitated to Kwara and the North-Central region, but he failed to live up to expectations.
“The atrocities Dantsoho Mahmud committed were grievous. These are some of the things the people of Kaiama became tired of. They asked themselves how such a character could continue to serve as the youth leader of the party.
“They said he was embarrassing them and wrote him a query which he was expected to answer. He was also involved in anti-party activities, having allegedly collected money from members of the opposition.
“His expulsion from the PDP was based on anti-party activities, allegations of corruption and other issues. He has 17 executives from each of the wards in Kaiama, and all of them signed against him, including his own blood relation,” Adewara alleged.
The PDP spokesman further described the Dan’iyan Kaiama as an “overrated politician” whom, he claimed, political actors were no longer willing to associate with.
“Do you know how many camps he has joined, even within the All Progressives Congress (APC)? This is a guy who first joined the APC and pitched his tent with Ambassador Yahaya Seriki’s camp.
“After he discovered that Yahaya Seriki was not somebody he could milk or collect money from, he went back to national television to say that Kwara North did not deserve to produce the governor.
“He has left Yahaya Seriki to work with three gubernatorial aspirants in the APC. Is that the person you want to take seriously.
“He is a political merchandise who is just looking for business. Dantsoho sees politics as a business. He sees his relationship with people as a way of making money. That is why he has no friends and no political ideology,” Adewara said.