By Emmanuel Oladesu
Power is transient. No condition is permanent. From the days of yore, kingdoms and empires have come and gone. Although power is not serve alar carte, as it involves struggles, conflicts and antagonism, it may not be forever because there is also a limitation to political control.
After the unprecedented heroic feat of installing six governors in Kwara State, the future of the Saraki dynasty looked brighter. But, as the wind of change blew, the hitherto solid political structure suddenly caved in during the last general elections. The political family that installed Governors Adamu Attah, Cornelius Adebayo, Shaaba Lafiagi, Mohamed Lawal, Bukola Saraki and Abdulfatah Ahmed has eclipsed. Arguably, its members are full of nostalgia. But, they can now only rely on old glory.
It started like a joke; a casual drama. The opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) coined an unusual slogan for sensitization and mobilisation against a formidable, entrenched and influential power bloc that had dominated Kwara politics for 55 years. The singing train of party women and youths chorused it in carnival-like rallies: ‘O to ge, ‘ meaning: enough is enough. Iterant local drummers and musicians composed songs, danced, yelled and gave warnings in anticipation of a new dawn. In Ofa, where armed robbers were on rampage, killing policemen and bank’s customers, protesters carried a mock coffin of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP, chanting Otoge. Unknown to the target, that sheer coinage was loaded with a renewed message of liberation and revolution. On poll day, it was highly captivating and influential on political behaviour.
In a twinkle of an eye, the voting pattern changed. The ‘O to ge’ gradually became a movement and an eye opener of a sort. Bukola Saraki, medical doctor, former governor of Kwara and Senate President was being deserted as his campaign train rolled into Kwara Central District, which he had been representing since 2011. His challenger, Ibrahim Oloriegbe, a medical doctor and former House of Assembly member, was perceived as weak opponent, who could not withstand the Saraki arsenal. His structure was dismissed as a weak and artificially built on the sand. Saraki, as usual, roared like a lion, seeking to devour him. The Senate President had the financial muscle, clout and rich political experience.
But, behind Oloriegbe were the masses, who claimed to have seen the light. As the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) mocked the All Progressives Congress (APC) challenger who could just be dismissed with a wave of the hand, his supporters burst into singing: ‘O to ge,’ demanding for power shift and a radical change of government. Instructively, those who constituted the Otoge movement were the masses, who were the unrecognized and despised pillars of the Saraki dynasty. The two flag bearers were on the weighing scale. On February 23, the table turned against the former Senate President at the poll in the four councils constituting the district. Oloriegbe beat Bukola with 15,932 to 11, 252 in Asa, 30,014 to 14,654 in Ilorin East, 26,331 to 13,013 in Ilorin South and 51, 531 to 30,075 in Ilorun West.
While the APC won the three senatorial seats in Kwara, President Muhammadu Buhari also defeated former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the PDP with 308,984 votes to 138, 184 votes.
Bukola was dazed. But, a politician that he is, he was not deserted by courage. The Kwara PDP leder quickly overcame his emotions and prepared for the March 9 governorship and House of Assembly elections. The polls were more disastrous. At the governorship poll, Bukola’s candidate, former House of Representatives member Rasak Atunwa, kissed the dust before the APC flag bearer, AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq. A big tragedy befell the former ruling party as the opposition won majority of seats in the state legislature. At the state level, power passed into the hand another conservative in a progressive party.
As Bukola departed the ancient town of Ilorin for the airport to board the plane to Abuja, he was booed and jeered at by the people who once adored him. The curtains were drawn on his reign as the inheritor of an enviable empire he could not pass on to the next generation of Sarakis. In sober reflection, he embraced the reality of the end of an era.
To observers, it was an unusual political revolution; a paradigm shift. Bukola’s defeat at the senatorial poll signified the end of a political hegemony in Kwara, which has implications for him and other member of an extended political dynasty that had been in existence for almost six decades.
The Otoge movement organised an epic political revolt. The brains behind the movement were Key political figures in Kwara, including AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq, Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Oloriegbe, Ibrahi Labaeka, a musician, Moshood Mustapha, a former aide to Saraki, Lukman Mustapha, yahaya Seriki, Yinka aluko Ganiyu Olododo, Oba Abdulraheem, Iyiola Oyedepo, and Yekeen Alajagusi. Market women, taxi drivers and students enlisted in the struggle.
AbdulRasaq was at the front, urging Kwarans to reject slavery and take their destiny in their hands. Explaining the philosophy behind the Otoge movement, House of Representatives member Mohammed Bio said the people woke up from their slumber and demanded for an all-inclusive and people-oriented government that would always listen to their voices. Also, a former federal legislator and chairman of the APC, Bolarinwa Bashir, said people sought to draw the curtains on the family government.
The Otoge crusade reverberated throughout Nigeria. In Lagos, there was an attempt by some miscreants to stage an Otoge rally against APC leaders. But, the Lagos crowd instantly resisted the move, saying that there was no similarity in the Kwara situation and Lagos there party leaders and the people were in amity. Reflecting on this after casting his vote at his unit in Alausa, Ikeja, APC stalwart Asiwaju Bola Tinubu said while Otoge was applicable in Kwara, ‘Otope’ (Our own is worthy of thanks) was applicable in Lagos. “Lagos should be Otope. We are going to win this election. We are the only party in Lagos; others are repeater stations. They come every four years and go back again like craps.” He stressed.
Saraki the godfather:
Second Republic Senate Leader Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki, Turaki, and later, Waziri of Ilorin, was a colossus. He died in 2012 a hero at the age of 79. His death was mourned beyond Kwara State. Political leaders across the divides paid tribute to the departed political megastar, who, in their view, left behind worthy legacies in politics, medical profession, philanthropy and religion.
Few politicians have had the rare honour of bestriding the Kwara political firmament like the multi-millionaire grassroots politics and Leader of Northern Union. To many people, Saraki was an extraordinary political mentor, quintessential role model and acclaimed godfather in Kwara, where politics in his days was often shaped by poverty, ethnicity and religion. Perfectly, he understood the language of urban and local politics. His foes could only ignore him to their peril. The saying in Kwara of his days was: “Anywhere Saraki goes, Kwara goes.”
For over 50 years of active political involvement and community service, Saraki was second to none in the Kwara and Kogi axis in the Northcentral geo-political zone. Admirers perceived the politician from Agbaji Quarters, Ilorin, as a colourful, charismatic, pragmatic and resourceful leader held in high esteem by the people. Thus, his death has created a vacuum.
Seraki was not an ideologue. From the beginning, he made no pretext about his political leaning. Yet, right from the beginning, he was destined to become the future political leader of Kwara. Unlike the late Chief Sunday Olawoyin from Offa, he had cultivated the aristocrats who looked up to the Sardauna of Sokoto and leader of the defunct Northern Peoples Congress (NPC), Alhaji Ahmadu Bello. He did not associate with the defunct Action Group (AG), led by the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo and the National Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC), led by Dr. Nnamidi Azikiwe, although he had much respect for these legends.
Instead, Saraki actively embraced the NPC, which lacked a national outlook. To the conservative NPC, enlisting any marginal support from the South was not a priority. Even, when few radical youths canvassed the change of name from Northern Peoples Congress to Nigerian Peoples Congress to convey the vague impression of ‘Nigerianess’, the suggestion was shot down. Yet, throughout the First Republic, the northern party was the party to beat.
Saraki’s initial political investment did not yield any dividend. But, he was not discouraged by his failed bid for a seat in the House of Representatives in 1964. He was a promising political devotee from the Middle Belt who lost his deposit in his first bid for a seat in the National Parliament. However, despite the fact that he was defeated by his opponent, he was resolute. He did not desert the battle field. He retained his fame as a determined politician who could not be underrated. Having put his hand on the political plough in 1964, he never looked back. His failed ambition was his first baptism of fire in politics. It was also a tonic. The ebullient, budding politician was downcast. He returned to Lagos to continue his medical practice and lucrative business. But henceforth, he would return to Ilorin every Friday to strengthen his political machinery. He built his structure and nurtured it. He was accessible to his vast followers.
His legacies in philanthropy and community work have endured. Many popular musicians, including Odolaye Aremu, usually sung his praise as an unbeatable kingpin and a political enigma, who understood the language of politics and the community. The relics of the water tanks at Ilorin and its environs remind the residents of the provision of water for the grassroots when the government failed to provide the social amenity. Saraki sponsored many people for the holy pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, gave scholarship to indigent students, cared for widows and offered employment to many youths.
The late Saraki was catapulted to the enviable league of elite which wielded much influence in the Ilorin enclave. Thus, when the West Central State was created in 1967, Military Governor David Bamgboye requested him to serve as commissioner. He declined and nominated his protégé into the cabinet. But throughout the military era, he was a factor in the politics of Ilorin, Kwara and Nigeria.
It was certain that Saraki would play a dominant role in the politics in the Second Republic. In 1978, he was elected into the Constituent Assembly that worked on the draft constitution prepared by the Constitutional Drafting Committee (CDC) set up by the Murtala/Obasanjo Administration. At the Assembly, he was not a bench warmer. There, he became a founding member of Club 19, which laid the foundation for the National Party of Nigeria (NPN). He sought to fly its presidential flag, but the entrenched forces in the North preferred a core Fulani candidate. That may have lent credence to the gulf between the core North and the Middle-Belt in the so-called monolithic North and plight of Yoruba-northerners inhabiting Kwara/Kogi axis. The same fate also befell the late Chief Sunday Awoniyi, the Aro of Mopa and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) aspirant. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo objected to his ambition to lead the PDP, saying Yoruba could not be President and national chairman of the then ruling party at the same time.
Saraki emerged as one of the frontline NPN leaders and party financiers during its formative stage. This however, did not give him an edge ahead of the primary. When his presidential ambition crumbled, he was advised to vie for governor. But, he thought that the emerging Senate would be like that of the powerful United States Senate. He opted for the Upper Chamber, after sponsoring the Ebira prince, Alhaji Adamu Attah, for the governorship. Since the party’s zoning formula was also not in his favour, the late Saraki’s ambition to become the Senate President was frustrated. Then, the party favoured the youthful Dr. Joseph Wayas for the number three position. But, he emerged as the Senate Majority Leader, a position which also secured an eminent seat for him in the powerful and influential NPN Caucus presided over by the party chairman, the late Chief Adisa Akinloye.
The late Waziri of Ilorin became the alpha and omega of Kwara politics. He singlehandedly frustrated Attah’s second term bid, following a frosty relationship. When the party insisted on fielding him in 1983, he supported the governor’s rival and Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) candidate, Senator Adebayo, who displaced Attah during the election.
The crisis-ridden Kwara NPN family was embarrassed by that action. A former minister, the late Chief Akanbi Oniyangi, warned at a rally in Ilorin that, should Attah fail at the poll, the Saraki would lose his honour. It was an empty threat. Attah lost and the party could not expel Saraki for anti-party activity. The suspension slammed on him was merely on paper. Saraki was re-elected Senator in 1983 because his popularity did not diminish in Kwara.
In the Third Republic, the Kwara kingpin bounced back. He recruited more loyalists into his enlarged camp. He installed Alhaji Lafiagi as the governor. He also renewed his battle for the Presidency.
He had the wealth of experience, connection and resources to prosecute a nationwide campaign. But, it was a wrong time; the political climate was cloudy. The ambition was stopped by the Head of State, the late Gen. Sani Abacha, who mooted the idea of transmuting into a civilian President. At the Constitutional Conference set up by Abacha, the late politician was a towering figure. However, he moderated his utterances in utter sensitivity to sentiments of the power that be.
Saraki never contemplated retirement from politics. In 1999, he emerged as the father of the All Peoples Party (APP) in Kwara. He revived his presidential bid. But, there were many political hurdles on his way. He could not make it because the party agreed to the APP/AD joint ticket, which favoured Chief Olu Falae. The chief had made a surrogate, Salman, the senatorial flag bearer in his Central District, with the hope of coming back to retrieve the ticket from him, should he fail to get the presidential nomination. When he returned to Ilorin, Salman was said to have deliberately gone abroad and did not return until the close of nominations. Salman served as senator on the APP platform for four years. Since then, nothing has been heard about him politically. Saraki later became the APP Board of Trustees (BOT) chairman.
The reality dawned on the old political war horse that he would never taste the presidency. He could not abdicate his political throne either. Unlike the earlier dispensations, when political gerontology was the watchword, he had to endure the crazy post-1999 era when the new breed of Third Republic who had grown wings, started to play politics outside the rules. Many of them were in a strategic alliance to heat up the polity and frustrate the political veterans of the First and Second Republics. Saraki often complained that party supremacy, party loyalty and party discipline were all gone.
In 1999, Saraki played a leading role in the installation of the former military governor of Ogun State, Rear Admiral Lawal, as the governor. Barely two years into the democratic dispensation, his political empire was shaking. Saraki started having a running battle with the governor he installed. ANPP, under his leadership, was polarised. Ethnic tension was also played up to convey the impression that the descendants of Afonja, the anti-Alaafin warrior and first surrogate ruler of Ilorin, were again at loggerheads politically with the descendants of Alimi, the illustrious Muslim scholar from Sokoto.
Saraki had foresight and he calculated well. When he gazed at the future, he perceived the looming danger. He instantly discovered that the future of his group was bleak in the ANPP. A wise and experienced politician, he changed his political gear and strategically struck a deal with the Obasanjo’s PDP. For the first time, the rich politician who had been sponsoring other people was advised to put forth his son’s and daughter’s names for elections. His son, Bukola, became the governorship candidate and his daughter, Gbemisola, who was in the House of Representatives, became the senatorial candidate.
Exuding confidence at the height of his political glory, the great man boasted: “The governor of Kwara is in my pocket. I am going to bring it out at my convenience.”
Bukola rode to the State House on the massive goodwill and formidable machinery of his illustrious father in 2003. He was re-elected in 2007 for a second term. Before he became governor, he was a Senior Special Assistant to the President on Agriculture. But, consistent with the pattern of Ilorin politics and bickering between political benefactors and beneficiaries, Bukola later disagreed with his father on succession. To analysts, the son issued a red card to his father. The Leader of Northern Union also declared war against his biological son when he insisted that his sister, Senator Gbemisola Saraki-Fowora, should succeed him as governor on May 29, 2011. Bukola, had worked in the spate of eight years to garner much influence as governor. He mustered the strength to kick against his father’s wish. The son has become the new rallying point, kingmaker and godfather. The former governor made his Finance Commissioner, Ahmed, as PDP candidate in opposition to his father’s choice.
Oloye Saraki was apparently caught unawares. He neither anticipated nor prepared for the last battle in advance. But, his fighting spirit was intact. He pulled his divided supporters out of the PDP. Political tension engulfed the Saraki nucleus family. Gbemisola was also infuriated. She struggled to realise her ambition on the platform of ACPN, a relatively unknown and weak platform. In his old age, Pa Saraki was traversing the nooks and crannies of the state to canvass support for her daughter in a state where three issues-poverty, illiteracy and religion-have shaped politics for decades. To the elite, it was an offensive step calculated at turning the state into the private property of the Saraki family.
The political danger was visible for the old political warhorse to see as the results trickled in. Many were of the opinion that he made a mistake by insisting that Gbemisola should succeed his brother. Bukola scored a goal against his father during the National Assembly elections. When PDP won the three senatorial seats in Kwara, the strongman received the news with a heavy heart. He still waited patiently for the governorship battle, which, based on experience, he now knew her daughter would lose. The political rift was later settled, but the discord it generated in the family lingered till the post-election period.
With the demise of the Kwara political tutor and godfather, his son and heir apparent to the political dynasty, BuKola, who had earlier retired him from politics, as it were, fully assumed the political leadership.
Bukola’s rise and ‘fall’
Bukola was born with silver spoon in his mouth. His political career is quite rich. He has been a presidential aide, governor, chairman of Governors’ Forum, and Senate President. He succeeded his father as the head of the dynasty at a time the old man was not ready to abdicate. As the acknowledged political leader of Kwara in post-Olusola Saraki era, he faced a future pregnant with possibilities. Bold, brave, courageous, clever and daring, he was expected to build on the solid foundation laid by the late Oloye.
Unlike other colleagues, Bukola started his political career from the top. His intellect, creative ingenuity, and focus made him to stand out from the crowd of special assistants and senior special assistants in the Obasanjo Administration. Key PDP leaders who closely observed him aptly described him as a man of the future. When the critical moment of opportunity came, he fulfilled his destiny. It is ironic that what is not common in the State of Harmony is harmony. Politics in the state has been shaped by poverty, illiteracy, ethnicity and religion. For that eight years when he was in the saddle, the opposition did not relent in their criticism of his administration for many reasons.
The Governors Forum which he led became a potent force in the ruling PDP and ultimately, the country. Towards the end of his second term, he eyed the presidency. Although he missed the ticket, it did not translate into a political eclipse. An important challenge that confronted the former governor and the political machinery that nurtured and catapulted him to power was succession. There were many politicians from the ruling and opposition parties itching to succeed him. Indeed, intra-party scramble for power shook the political dynasty and the tension, for the first time, could not be mitigated by the patriarch, Oloye Saraki, who was the main issue in Kwara politics for 45 years. The elder statesman, his governor-son and senator-daughter were embroiled in controversy and crisis of succession. The rest is now history.
Bukola shared the same fate with his late father. But much difficulties were not on his path to political victory and fame. The indomitable Bukola passed through political vicissitudes, rising from the slippery political ground at every fall. His son came to reap the fruits of his father’s political labour.
As a senator, he endowed his seat in the Upper Chamber with visibility. His strength lies in his power of ideas, experience, exposure and logic. Even before he became Senate President, he was not bench warmer. Indisputably, he is also not afraid to ruffle feathers. While party colleagues attempted to label him as another emerging internal opposition leader, ordinary Nigerians hailed his defence of truth, fair play and justice in the decadent society.
At a critical time when colleagues were aloof to public plight, Bukola filled the consciousness of the people by pitching his tent with Nigerians. He dared the powerful cabals, insisting that the enemies of the country who suffocated the land with the subsidy scam must not go unpunished. He has also cried out on the state of the environment in different parts of the country, especially the ecology of the oil producing states.
When his father started rooting for his sister, Senator Gbemisola Saraki, as successor as he was about to complete his two terms of eight years, Bukola was cautious. Although he knew that PDP would have probably won the governorship with her as candidate, he objected. His close associates said that he differed on moral ground, with an intent to remove the misperception that Kwara and Kwara government have become Saraki’s fiefdom. In his view, power shift to another zone was desirable to give the district a sense of belonging. In addition, wanted to cleverly avert a hard journey to victory for PDP. But, another school of thought suggested that Bukola objected because he felt he could not control Gebemisola as she will only be accountable to their father.
Saraki was born on December 19, 1962. He attended King’s College, Lagos, from 1973-1978, and Cheltenham College, Cheltenham, London from 1979-1981 for his High School Certificate (HSC) programme. He then studied at the London Hospital Medical College of the University of London from 1982 to 1987, when he obtained his M.B.B.S (London). He worked as a Medical Officer at Rush Green Hospital, Essex, from 1988-1989. He was a Director of Societe Generale Bank (Nig) Ltd from 1990-2000. He was appointed Special Assistant to the President on Budget in 2000. Ceremonially, he also serves as a tribal nobleman of high rank in his capacity as the Turaki of the Ilorin Emirate.
There is no politician without his dark period. In April 2012, the police sent a letter to Saraki asking him to assist their investigation of a case of “conspiracy, forgery and stealing N21,000,000,000 belonging to Joy Petroleum Ltd.” A Federal High Court in Abuja heard a request by Saraki for an injunction preventing the police from arresting him “to protect his dignity and prevent further harassment”. At the hearing, the counsel for the police alleged that Saraki had influenced purchase of stocks by the Ministry of Finance of Kwara State in companies that included Joy Petroleum, of which Saraki was the promoter. His wife was linked to the transaction as was Governor Ahmed, former Commissioner of Finance. The High Court adjourned the hearing until 22 May 2012.
On April 28, 2012, the police Special Fraud Unit said they had issued an arrest warrant for Saraki, whom they wanted to question about “a case of suspected fraudulent conversion of depositors’ funds through questionable waivers of loans and other facilities of about N9.76 billion granted by the management of the defunct Intercontinental Bank Plc.” It was alleged that the waived loans from the bank were used for his personal profit while he was governor of Kwara State. Saraki said he was willing to appear before the police. On May 3, 2012 the senator was questioned by the police for two hours. His associates said the allegations were politically motivated.
Bukola defected from the PDP to the APC in 2014. The entire state followed him to the APC. He installed Ahmed a second term. He Senate President, in violation of party supremacy and discipline. His four year tenure as Chairman of the National Assembly was full of tension. President Muhammadu Buhar said He was slowing him down by invoking legislative power to truncate his programmes. But, to Bukola, separation of powers should not be compromised. He later retraced his steps to the PDP. The Federal Government moved against him. He was answering charges in courts as number three citizen.
In post-Oloye Saraki era, the question that agitated the people was: will Saraki be able to hold the state’s politics as firmly as his father did?
Bukola’s sins:
According to observers, the handwriting was bold on the wall. Perhaps, the former governor chose to ignore it. Bukola drew envy as the inheritor of the dynasty leadership. His associates believed he was a victim of elitist gang up. But, his critics differed as they emphasised that he failed to manage the achievements of the political family. In post-Saraki era, many leading lights wondered why a single family should continue to dominate the politics of the state and appropriate the benefits.
The younger Saraki was accused of poor governance. He was accused of neglecting technocrats who could assist him in running the state. Rather, critics said he surrounded himself with praise singers who hero worshipped him. When he started his agricultural programme, critics descended on the administration for inviting Zimbabwean farmers to hijack peoples’ land. The programme, the government claimed, turned out to be income and employment yielding for the state. But, later, the beat stopped.
He was also accused of picking one of his stooges as governor. There were also allegations that he did not give his successor a free hand to run the state.
During the campaigns, many APC chieftains said as Senate President, Bukola could not attract tangible dividends the state. He was far from the people, they added.
The opposition also alleged that his surrogate, Ahmed, performed poorly and that the former governor relegated the civil service to the background. Since Bukola installed him, he was to take the blame. In particular, a section of the state complained about the relegation of Yoruba monarchs. Stakeholders who also complained about some anti-people policies and decayed infrastructure said there was no concrete achievement to warrant voting for the PDP.
Gradually, there was gap between Bukola and the masses without him noticing it. Bukola was attacking President Muhammadu Buhari, bhut, his people, unknown to him, were making a decision to endorse him for a second term and vote for APC candidates in Kwara. .
As Bukola lost his bid for the Senate the third time, his colleague, Senator Abu Ibrahim, said his rejection was not beyond expectation. Ibrahim, who was the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Labour and Productivity, said Bukola should even vacate the seat of the Senate President to avoid being a lame duck chairman of the National Assembly “because his over-bloated image has been completely destroyed.”
Ibrahim, who is from Katsina South District, said the prediction that the APC would retire Bukola from politics has become a reality, pointing out that his greatest undoing in Kwara politics was “self centeredness.” He added: “Kwara people showed clearly that they were tired of Saraki and his antics. His image, mostly over bloated, has been destroyed completely. Kwara people, his own people, have rejected him.”
Echoing the senator, Wole Oke, a Kwara politician, said: “The victory represents another threshold of history. The Berlin Wall in Kwara has fallen completely and collapsed. We are now masters of our own political fate and this is the end of godfatherism in Kwara politics.”
Labour leader and goverborship candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Issa Aremu, lamented that under the Saraki family, Kwara retrogressed. He pointed out that the state was ranked 28 on the list of states by the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), lining behind Imo, Edo, Oyo and Osun, and seven of 10 Kwarans are wallowing in poverty.
But, Bukola accepted his fate, full of hope for another chance. He wished the candidates who emerged from the elections the best of luck.
He doubted that the people rejected him and his candidates. The former Senate President complained that the polls were not free and fair. “Card readers were not in use in over 70 percent of the polling units. There were multiple voting, over-voting and other discrepancies,” he said.
Bukola described himself as “a product of a family and a political structure that is, from its foundation, devoted to the service and development of the state and its people.” He said Kwara now has the advantage of comparison. “The new development will even provide the people the opportunity to compare and contrast. After all, the people who have emerged from the last Saturday’s election are not my enemies. They are fellow Kwarans,” he added.
Bukola did not desert the battle. Urging voters to vote for PDP, he said:” As the state prepared for the March 9 governorship and House of Assembly elections, let me reiterate my position that the candidates of the PDP represent the best materials for our dear state, Kwara.” The plea was ignored by the people. There was a bandwagon effect.
