I Never Signed Any Agreement To Serve One Term As Senator – Saliu Mustapha

Senator Saliu Mustapha has dismissed as fake a 2022 letter circulating online in which he was purportedly to have pledged to serve only one term in the Senate, insisting that the document was not the letter he signed.

Mustapha made the clarification while appearing on Channels Television’s Politics Today, following the circulation of the document online. He said several discrepancies in the letter, including the spelling of his name, confirmed that it was not authentic.

“That document is fake. That is not the document I signed. They misspelt my name. Everything about that looks fake,” Mustapha said.

The letter, dated May 21, 2022, was addressed to Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq and purportedly contained Mustapha’s commitment to serve only one four-year term as senator if elected.

It also purportedly stated that he would abide by the governor’s directives and remain loyal to him during and after his tenure.

However, the Kwara Central senator denied signing any such agreement with the governor.

“I didn’t sign any agreement with Raman. Let him come and swear with the Quran,” he said.

Mustapha acknowledged that he wrote a letter at the time but maintained that the original document differed from the version currently being circulated.

According to him, the letter he actually signed stated that he would spend only one term in the Senate if he decided to pursue a higher political office, adding that his ambition at the time was to contest the governorship of Kwara State.

“In the original letter I signed, I stated clearly that in my bid for going for a higher office, I’ll go to Senate for only a term. That is why I didn’t contest for Senate. It was governorship,” he said.

Mustapha also recounted discussions surrounding his political ambition, saying Dr Ghali had approached him over concerns about his growing popularity and his interest in the Kwara Central Senate seat.

He said he was informed that the governor’s camp was aware of his intention to contest the 2027 governorship election and that he agreed the Senate seat could be contested by a member of the AbdulRazaq family while he pursued the governorship.

“What happened was that it was Dr Ghali that came to meet me that they are threatened about my popularity and they want to reserve Senate seat for the AbdulRazaq family,” Mustapha said.

“We are aware you want to go for the governorship in 2027. I told them it is fine, since I’ll be going for the governor. Any of the AbdulRazaq’s family can go for Senate. It is as easy as that. We will support each other. They then said it is fine.”

Mustapha further alleged that the circulating version of the letter was forged to undermine his political ambitions.

“In a bid to frustrate us, the governor went to forge this document,” he alleged.

The allegation of forgery remains Mustapha’s claim. However, his denial of the circulating letter is consistent with a verification by The Informant247, which reported that the document being circulated as Mustapha’s signed 2022 letter was not authentic.