As the 2003 general elections draw nearer, prominent politicians, stakeholders, leaders and elders of the northern senatorial district of Kwara State are not leaving anything to chances in their quest for the zone to produce the next governor of the state. Many leading politicians outside the zone have also thrown their weight behind the arrangement. But it appears the zone will have to contend with supporters of incumbent Governor AbdulRaman Abdulrazaq and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.
Already, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state led by former Senate President Bukola Saraki, has zoned the party’s 2023 governorship ticket to Kwara North. Since 1999, the zone has not had a shot at the governorship seat while Kwara Central and South have occupied the coveted seat through late Governor Mohammed Lawal, Dr. Bukola Saraki, Alhaji AbdulFatah Ahmed and current Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.
Little wonder, political leaders from the senatorial zone in a communique signed by 101 leaders drawn from the five local government areas of the zone, urged the APC and the PDP in the state to pick their governorship candidates from the district. “We are very clear in our demand and plan. Our position is simple and we have reached out to all the leading political parties. 2023 will be quite different. If you don’t pick your governorship candidate from Kwara north, don’t expect our people to vote for your candidates,” Hon. Ahman Ibrahim, former state scribe of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), said.
Chairman of Kwara North Stakeholders Consultative Forum, Alhaji Abdullahi Lade said “By calculation, Kwara Central got first four years through late Mohammed Lawal, then eight years from Dr. Bukola Saraki. So the central had twelve years and Kwara South had eight years through Alh. Abdulfatah Ahmed. The Yorubas say three stones do not throw away the soup pot; we are three in number. They should allow us in Kwara north. We realised that if we don’t cry out that they should think about equity, justice and fairness and allow Kwara North to produce the next governor irrespective of party affiliation.”
To demonstrate their seriousness, governorship aspirants from the zone, Alhaji Abdullahi Shuaib Yamah, Alhaji Tajudeen Audu, Hon. Ahma Aliyu Pategi, Rt. Hon. Ibrahim Issa Bio, Hon. Zakari Muhammed, Hon. Issa Bawa Adamu, Alhaji Abubakar Shamaki and Prof Issa Muhammad Gana, have resolved to support anyone of them that emerges as candidate of a leading political party. The aspirants argued that the region had suffered neglect and relegation to the political backwaters of the state over the years.
Based on the political calculus of the state, Kwara north’s quest to clinch the governorship seat in 2023 is indeed a tall dream. This is because the current governor is just serving a term of four years in office and is entitled to vie for another term in office. While he is yet to declare his interest in the race, some of his aides are of the opinion that nothing should stop him from running and winning again based on his performance.
Mallam Abdullateef Alakawa, Special Adviser to the Governor on Political Matters, says the governor remains the man to beat for the job any day. “It is too early to worry over the Governor or anyone declaring for second term. As of this minute, I don’t know of any first term Governor who has made any public statement on the 2023 ballot. The Governor is the candidate to beat if he decides to run again. This is because of his commitment to the welfare of the greatest majority of our people. That can be seen in his welfarist programmes especially targeting the underserved and the silent majority, his statewide infrastructural projects, his easygoing and live-and-let-live approach to life, his unprecedented commitments to workers’ welfare, respect for traditional and religious institutions, and rare humility in service delivery.
“His rare leadership traits and style are such that party elders and stakeholders with love for the state are already urging him to run again. The last time workers earned half or had their salaries unpaid in Kwara State was in 2019. The Governor has made promotion of workers a priority. I’m not sure any worker wants to go back to those horrible years of stagnation and arbitrary diversion of public resources and treasonable sale of public properties at giveaway prices. For the greatest majority of our people, the Abdulrazaq-led APC administration has opted to place the state on a sound footing especially in basic education, primary healthcare delivery, welfare of workers and the weak, rural-urban development, youths engagement and empowerment, and ease of doing business. Many communities across Kwara are having a feel of government for the first time in decades. For the women, it has never been so good to the extent that Kwara is now a model state for Nigeria in gender mainstreaming,” he said.
PDP
Announcing the zoning of the governorship ticket to the north central district, PDP said its decision was taken after series of exhaustive sessions with stakeholders of the party comprising of party faithful from the three senatorial districts. Chairman of the party Tunde Mohammed said “This development as expected have elicited many positive reactions from many members of public most especially those with concern for the future of our great state at heart.
“Well, it is important to state that the choice of the party was made in good faith and recourse to justice, fairness and equity, the very fundamentals of our party. The main essence of democracy is inclusiveness which is the crux of the decision made by the party. Our party is creating a realm where everyone will feel they belong to and have their roles to play irrespective of where they come from or the colour of their tongues. All the organs of the party played a crucial role in assisting the party in arriving at its decisions after making series of consultations around the state under the guidance of our leader Senator Bukola Saraki.”
Several other groups and individuals from the zone had also lauded Saraki and the PDP over the move. But there are those within the party who feels the PDP should look for a candidate that can win election, irrespective of where he or she comes from. “The reality today is that if the PDP must have a fighting chance in the next election, it must be willing to eschew emotion and take its decision based on cold calculations. Anything short of this, we should be prepared to face another defeat. The truth is that majority of voters do not belong to any political party. In 2023, they will vote only for a candidate (not party) that best appeal to them. Let Kwara North focus on giving us that candidate. It is as simple as that,” Mas’ud Adebimpe, former Chief Press Secretary to the party’s leader, Senator Bukola Saraki, argued.
Ahead of the 2023 governorship election in the state and in pursuit of its power shift agitation, the Kwara North Stakeholders Forum had also screened governorship aspirants from the zone, hoping to pick a consensus acceptable candidate from the zone. Governorship aspirants from the zone that reportedly appeared for screening include Hon. Zakari Muhammad, Alhaji Abdulkadir Audu Makama, Hon. Ahman Aliyu Patigi, Alhaji Shuaib Yaman, Hon. Isa Bawa Adamu, Prof Yisa Gana, Abdullah Alikinla, and Alhaji Abubakar Musa Samaki. The aspirants, according to sources, signed undertakings to accept whoever emerges as the candidate. The outcome of the screening, which took place late last year, is still being awaited as at the time of filing this report.
Political analysts are saying the over reliance of the political class in the north on the PDP may turn out a disadvantage as the demystification of Senator Saraki in 2019 when his party lost the general election is seen as a minus for the region’s agitation. Some other observers are saying unless Saraki and the PDP returns to their days of grassroots politics, it may be difficult for the party to defeat the ruling APC. “Saraki does not play local politics after his defeat at the 2019 elections. He prefers to play his politics at the national level. Many of his supporters have now become political orphans. Some of his associates are defecting from PDP in drove,” a keen watcher of Kwara politics said.
But the former governor says the PDP is ready to take over government in 2023 irrespective of what cynics say. “The struggle for Kwara begins now. The task ahead is a serious one. The peaceful conduct of our congresses has confirmed to me that we are indeed ready to take back power in Kwara,” he assured.
APC
The ruling APC is currently battling internal wranglings in the state. The current Governor AbdulRahman, who is from Ilorin in the Central Senatorial district is expected to seek a second term. Naturally, the Central zone is insisting that he be allowed to do another term. Not too long ago women groups in the zone draw beckoned on Governor AbdulRazaq to aspire for a second term in office in 2023 elections. The groups hinged their support for the governor for promoting women and girl-child issues in his current administration.
Similarly, late last year scores of politicians and appointees of the government from the North Senatorial zone, led by Kwara House of Assembly Speaker, Yakubu Danladi Salihu, Senator representing the district Sadiq Umar and Secretary to the state Government (SSG) Prof Maman Shaaba Jubril, urged their people from the zone north to be deceived by the PDP’s zoning of the ticket to district. All the speakers at the event declared their support for the second term agenda of Governor AbdulRazaq.
Another group known as Kwara North Development Council (KWANDCO) cautioned members of the senatorial district clamouring for power shift to the region. KWANCO urged the agitators to rather allow the ongoing infrastructural transformation under the administration of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to continue. The group argued that, the area had suffered infrastructural deficit under the past regimes in the state but “the present administration has changed the situation and this must be sustained in order to move the area forward.”
Analysts say it is obvious that the incumbent governor will clinch the ticket of the APC once again and slug it out with whoever PDP throws into the ring. But a faction of the APC loyal to Information and Culture Minister, Lai Mohammed laments that the ongoing schism in the party portends grave danger for the fortune of the party in the 2023 and subsequent elections in the state. The faction fears that the APC will lose the next governorship election if the incumbent governor is given the party’s ticket. Ahead of the election, many of the faction’s members are dumping the APC for other parties including the PDP and the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
One of such dissatisfied politicians is a member of the State House of Assembly, Hon Saheed Popoola. Popoola had already informed the leadership of the predominantly APC-led assembly of his defection to SDP. Similarly, a former gubernatorial candidate in the state, Adetunji Oyabambi, last week moved into the PDP with his supporters. He accused the ruling party and the current government of ostracizing loyal party members and failing to deliver on the promises made to the people during the last electioneering campaigns.
But Alakawa says there is nothing to fear as the APC will still win the election. According to him, “it is clear that the party led by Governor Abdulrazaq is beyond doubt the platform to beat any day. The Kwara APC has a lot to campaign with. Is it workers’ welfare? Support for the elderly or women? Or the unprecedented investment in the education of the Kwaran child?
The life-changing opportunities for women to be at the decision making table? The child of nobody now has equal opportunity and prospect like everyone else. The way we recruited teachers and other categories of workers is a clear departure from the past.
Kwara is a changed place. The profligacy of the past is gone, even if no one can claim perfection. Long-forgotten communities of Kwara have come back to life, while the prospect for the future is bright now than ever.”