Tag: kwara

  • Kwara: Parties adopt Ahmed as governorship candidate

    Kwara: Parties adopt Ahmed as governorship candidate

    Ahead of April 11th governorship and House of Assembly elections, seven political parties in Kwara state have adopted Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as their candidate.
    The parties, under the aegis of Congress of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP), based their decision on the need to be in the mainstream of the nation’s politics.
    The parties involved are Action Alliance (AA), Progressive Peoples’ Alliance (PPA), United Progressives Party, Social Democratic Party (SDP), Citizen Popular Party (CPP), African Peoples’ Alliance (APA) and All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

    Accordingly, the governorship candidates of the parties have stepped down for the APC governorship candidate.
    The governorship candidates that stepped down for Ahmed are Mrs. Felicia Oyewusi(AA), Alhaji Tiamiyu Kamoru(PPA),Deaconess Comfort Kayode (UPP) and Lekan Alabi (SDP).
    Others are Mr. Bayo David (UDP), Bamidele Omotosho(CPP) and Mrs. Falilatu Bashiru, deputy governorship candidate of SDP.
    Addressing reporters on Monday in Ilorin, the chairman of the CNPP in the state, Alhaji Adebayo Lawal said their decision was borne out of genuine concern for the progress and development of the state.
    Lawal added:”We in the CNPP of Kwara state identified the need to be in the mainstream of the nation’s politics by ensuring that our governor, Alh. AbdulFatah Ahmed also emerges on the platform of APC to enable us recoup all the losses we have sustained under the punitive policies of the administration of the outgoing President in the last two years.
    “We are therefore unequivocal in our resolve to fully support the incumbent APG governor, Alh. AbdulFatah Ahmed on April11, 2015 and we call on all our teeming members and supporters in Kwara state to cast their votes for the party of the moment, the APC on that day.
    “Furthermore, we are calling on all well- meaning people of Kwara state to also give their support to the candidate of APC in his well deserved second term in office as the executive governor of Kwara state and also to the various APC candidates for the state House of Assembly so that the dividends of democracy would continue to reach the people throughout the nooks and crannies of the state.

    “The APC that presented the victorious presidential candidate in the March 28 elections, has thus emerged as the ruling party in Nigeria and also the party to beat in the final round of the 205 general elections in which governors and state Houses of Assembly legislators are expected to be elected.”

  • Kwara GM revels in brilliant start to NPFL season

    Kwara GM revels in brilliant start to NPFL season

    General Manager of newly promoted  NPFL side Kwara United FC of Ilorin Haruna Megidansanma has assured fans of the club to expect more positive results.

    The Afonja Warriors have picked up five points since the start of the season with the addition of a point picked up on the road after a 1-1 draw was played against Wikki Tourist FC over the weekend.

    In a chat with footballlive.ng, Megidansanma stated that the team will keep improving and keep getting better. The Ilorin based topflight side has picked up a win and two draws on the road in the current campaign.

    “I think people should expect success and even better performances and we’ll continue to make appraisals. All in all, we know that in time, the team will be in good shape in terms of the players.”

    Kwara United are fifth on the log table behind El Kanemi Warriors FC and Gabros International in third and fourth respectively while Taraba FC leads the log with seven points and Heartland in second spot with six points.

  • APC, PDP and LP battle for Kwara

    APC, PDP and LP battle for Kwara

    All Progressives Congress (APC), Labour Party (LP) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are warming up for the governorship election in Kwara State. It is the first exercise in the post-Olusola Saraki era. How will Kwarans vote? Correspondent Adekunle Jimoh beams a searchlight on the parties, the candidates and the issues that will shape the contest.

    The image of the Kwara political kingpin, the late Dr Olusola Saraki, still looms large as the general elections draw near. The Saraki dynasty, as it is fondly called, is now being led by the late politician’s son,  Senator Bukola Saraki.

    The late Saraki was political colossus and godfather to many in Kwara. He was initially touted to be a multi-billionaire until after his demise, when it became apparent that the man  left behind only two houses: one in Lagos and the other one at Ilorin, the state capital.

    This post-humus revelation, further endeared the man to his numerous followers and, perhaps, it could be the most striking factor in the choice of his biological son, Bukola, by his admirers as the new political leader. Many believe that all is well with the dynasty. In addition, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed has lived up to expectation. Therefore, he will win a second term.

    However, there are two political blocs in the state: those who believe in the retention of the status quo and those are radically opposed to it.

    Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Saraki are on one side, while the two major opposition parties, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP) are the other side.

    Another factor affecting Kwara politics at the moment is the presidential candidate of the two major parties. There are those backing the APC because of its presidential flag bearer, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.  There are also those rooting for the PDP because of President Goodluck Jonathan. The governorship candidates of the PDP and the LP, Senator Simeon Ajibola and Dr Mike Omotosho respectively, are campaigning for the President’s re-election.

    At the governorship level, the pertinent question is, what is the chances of the opposition in the  election?

    Ajibola, a senator for three consecutive terms, emerged as the PDP candidate against all odds. He  defeated other aspirants, including former presidential aide Senator Makanjuola Ajadi; former governorship candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) Mohammed Dele Belgore (SAN); ex-sports minister Alhaji Bio Ibrahim; former Federal Character Commission chair Prof. Shauib AbdulRaheem; Senator Gbemisola Saraki and Deacon John Dara, a crony of former Defence Minister Theophilus Danjuma.

    Ajibola’s emergence initially generated bad blood among co-aspirants. But, a reconciliatory meeting convened by the Chairman of the PDP Board of Trustees (BOT) of the party Chief Tony Anenih in Ilorin,  made the aggrieved contestants into burying the hatchet.

    The Chairman of the PDP Chief Iyiola Oyedepo said: “We are one big family and we are happy going into election with this oneness of spirit.” In the same vein, during the inauguration of the Campaign Team, the Minister of National Planning, Olanrewaju Suleiman said that “the PDP is one in Kwara and that we must vote for President Jonathan and our governorship candidate, Senator Ajibola.”

    Despite these assurances, many PDP supporters believe till date that the campaign style of Ajibola does not portray him as “a serious governorship candidate.”

    A source, who pleaded anonymity said: “When you offer him advice, he will not listen. Even when you call him on phone, he doesn’t pick calls. I am sure he has not committed his resources into this project apart from the money allegedly released to him by the Presidency. So, is that person a serious candidate?”

    Another source said that Ajibola could just be an agent “serving as a mole to a political power broker in the state.”

    He added: “From his behaviour, he may just be pretending to be a candidate of the opposition party. But, only time will reveal how he would fare.”

    Dispelling these insinuations, Oyedepo said the PDP poses a serious challenge to the APC, adding that the campaign strategies could never have been the same. “We are serious with our campaigns, which is led by no other person other than Dara. We are working very hard on daily basis and we do these based on the available funds at our disposal.

    The spokesman for the Simeon Ajibola Campaign Organisation (SSACO), Tajudeen Kareem, said its state-wide campaign tour would resume this week, after a brief break necessary to perfect its strategies and tidy up security arrangements.

    Besides, Dara said local government and ward campaign coordinators have been engaged in house-to-house consultation in the last two weeks, taking the PDP message of freedom and prosperity to the grassroots.”

    Dara also said there is no iota of truth in the insinuation that some PDP members are aggrieved because, in line with the PDP flag bearer’s policy, the organisation is running an all-inclusive campaign.

    “We have deliberately taken care of all interests in our party and that is why all our former governorship aspirants are fully involved in the campaign. If you notice, we have an unusually large campaign organisation. This is to ensure that all major stakeholders and all interest groups are carried along,” he explained.

    Many observers even see Omotosho as a more viable alternative. According to Abdulmumeen Onagun, former Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the LP candidate represents “an ideal choice for the type of governor that Kwara needs.”

    Onagun added: “Here is Omotosho, a trained pharmacist, an industrialist per excellence, one who has no godfather, but has the true God as his father. He is young, vibrant and widely travelled. If you look at his manifesto, you will see that he is the right man for the job.”

    Omotosho has touched the lives of many Kwarans with his scholarship schemes. Besides, he has taken his free medical missions to over 50 communities across the state, just as he remains the only governorship candidate in the state with supports for youth development and supports for the aged and people with special needs. He has equally procured over one million cooking stoves for the needs of women across the three Senatorial districts of the state.

    Omotoso said: “I pledge to submit my monthly salary to this noble scheme that shall be implemented with the true sense of service to God and humanity. Our social security scheme will directly affect three categories of people namely: the aged, the pensioners and the handicapped.

    “The government shall be committed to a monthly allowance to elderly ones beyond the age of 70. Kwara shall be the first state in Nigeria in the area of ensuring that those who served the people with the strength of their youth are not subjected to ridicule at old age.

    However, many perceive the governor to the strongest candidate. The impregnability of the Saraki dynasty, which is solidly behind Ahmed, coupled with his numerous achievements in the last four years in office, have put him in a better position to beat his rivals. Analysts say the governor would win on April 11 convincingly.

    Again, people’s desire for a change from the President Jonathan’s years of impunity, insecurity, corruption and misrule and the Buhari bug that has caught the electorate in Kwara is the icing on the cake for Ahmed.

     

  • Kwara trains teachers on CBT

    To arrest mass failure among pupils in computer-based testing (CBT), the Kwara State government has trained scores of secondary schools teachers across the state on CBT dexterity. The teachers are to in turn impact same knowledge on their respective pupils.

    Executive Director, Easi-Prep Nigeria Limited and consultant to the state Ministry of Education on CBT training, Babs Iwarere, spoke to reporters in Ilorin, the state capital, at the end of the week-long exercise.

    Iwarere said: “We discovered that in public schools teachers have not been introduced to computer-based testing and you find out that these students when they graduate encounter problems in writing their Universal Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME), which is now computer-based, used for admission into tertiary institutions.

    “Regardless of the institutions, prospective students have to pass through some pre-admission tests. So, it is necessary that teachers are introduced to these computers so that they can prepare their students adequately for this exercise.

    “Now, we have selected teachers from all the junior and secondary schools across the state. They are about 744 government-owned schools in all.

    “The response from the state ministry of education has been tremendous. The participants after every exercise have been allowed to assess the training and the feedback has been very fantastic. It is encouraging and participants welcome it as a development for them. We are recommending it to other states of the federation particularly government schools.”

    Deputy Director, Information Communications Technology in the state ministry of education, Alhaji Hameed Yinusa, noted that the 21st Century education is drifting towards digital.

    His words: “It (education) has gone digital and if we don’t start with our secondary school students they will not be able to cope when they get to higher institutions. Education is categorised into what we call teaching, learning and assessment. We have to teach digitally and students must learn in digital way, otherwise they will not be able to do the assessment.

    “We are starting in a way that a teacher is being sent from each junior and senior secondary school to the training which is done in the three senatorial districts of the state.”

    A Senior Secondary School teacher from Guasara, Baruten Local Government Area, Musa Halilu, said of the exercise:

    “I happen to be one of the participants of the programme. I am happy to be called to attend the training exercise. I have seen the usefulness of the programme, which will help to train students under us,” he said.

    He urged government to complement the gesture by deploying computer tests in schools.

     

  • Kwara sues Fed Govt for $58.4m debt

    Kwara State Government has sued the Federal Government before the Supreme Court, seeking to among others, compel it to pay it about $58,505,759 allegedly collected on its behalf from a foreign company about 21 years ago.

    The state accused the Federal Government of refusing to release the money, which formed an overpayment of a foreign loan obtained by Kwara and guaranteed by the Federal Government.

  • Hausa in Kwara endorse Ahmed

    The Hausa in Kwara State have endorsed Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, for the April 11 election.

    They promised to vote for all APC candidates.

    The Haussa urged members of their community and other Kwara residents to “disregard any call on them to jettison their benefactor in the coming elections as one good term deserves another”.

    The Special Assistant to the Governor on Hausa Community, Alhaji Yusuf Albusira, hailed the Ahmed administration for even distribution of dividends of democracy to indigenes and non-indigenes.

    Albusira said: “The present administration in the state has done so much to the Hausa community. About 10 of our people have benefited from the Kwara Bridge Empowerment Scheme (KWABES) and Quickwin empowerment schemes of the government.

    “We enjoy immense benefits from the state and local governments. Our people have been employed in Kwara State Transport Management Authority (KWARTIMA). In the same vein, some of our children have also been employed in the state ministries.”

  • ‘We’ve endorsed Saraki as Kwara political leader’

    ‘We’ve endorsed Saraki as Kwara political leader’

    The Etsu Tsaragi in Edu Local Government Area of Kwara State, Alhaji Aliyu Kpotwo, has said traditional rulers have unanimously endorsed Senator Bukola Saraki as the political leader of the state.

    The monarch spoke at Tsaragi when he hosted Saraki’s campaign train for his re-election, led by Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed.

    Kpotwo said first class monarchs chose Saraki following the demise of his father, Dr Olusola Saraki, “to lead us politically”.

    According to him, politics in Kwara remains “a heritage.

    He added: “If I will not want any destruction to my father’s heritage, then I should do nothing to destroy the political structure that has been of immense benefits to us.”

    Kpotwo said the people of the town resolved to make public their political interest, adding that the town had suffered in the past because of “wrong information peddled against us”.

    He said: “We don’t want it again. We need to let the world know where we belong and what we stand for.”

    The Etsu, who hailed Saraki for initiating the reconstruction of his palace, also praised Ahmed for completing the project.

    Kpotwo said: “Anyone here before now, who decided to come to Tsaragi will see monumental development achieved under the Ahmed administration.

    “Therefore, nobody should tell us that we need to vote for Ahmed for his second term. Instead, we are begging him to come out and re-contest. His first term was a great blessing to us. We will mobilise our people to return him to power.”

    At the palace of the Lafiagi monarch, also in the same local government, Emir Kawu Haliru said traditional rulers were the harbingers of peace in Nigeria.

    He said: “They are our people. We know them very well and we can prevail on them to tow the line of peace, irrespective of the prevailing circumstances. That is why we still believe that we should be given a constitutional role to play in Nigeria.”

    The emir noted that “in our own Lafiagi, we would not renege on the political agreement between our forefathers and Ilorin people”.

    He added: “They were always doing things in common. We will not allow this age-long harmonious relationship to end during our own time.”

    Saraki spoke on the imperative of good governance as the pivot for viable democracy to thrive.

    The senator said his movement from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to All Progressives Congress (APC) remained the greatest step ever taken in his political career.

    The former governor said his active involvement the campaign for APC presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, was a project “aimed at rescuing Nigeria” from the claws of bad governance.

    Saraki said: “When we decided to leave the PDP for APC the other time, some people felt that we took the wrong step then. But today, everybody has fallen in line with what APC stands for.”

  • Sardauna nostalgia in Kwara

    Sardauna nostalgia in Kwara

    The name of the late Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello, resonated in Ilorin, Kwara State capital, when Gamji Members’ Association, inspired by his sterling qualities, looked back at his legacy.

    Gamji is a name given to the late Premier of the North for his political greatness and sagacity.

    President of the Kwara branch of the club, Dr Abubakar Ibrahim, in a lecture entitled “Wither The Sardauna Leadership Legacies?” said Nigeria is suffering from lack of capable and effective leadership.

    Dr Ibrahim promised to establish a GAMJI centre to mould good leaders.

    “Nigeria is now in dire need of good legacies for it to overcome its current social, political and economic crises,” he said. “Such leader must possess moral authority and esteemed values of integrity, honesty and must be ready to undergo hardship and suffer deprivation on behalf of the poor masses.

    “Such leader must be competent and sound in the art of managing diverse people and abundant resources and must properly understand  his mandate as father of the nation, not a as a son or daughter of Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo, Ijaw, Nupe or Ebira.

    “Such leader must clearly know that Nigeria is a pluralistic society. He must be capable of bringing out a vision of what he wishes to achieve and have the requisite knowledge and experience about how to solve the mirage of problems currently bedeviling our nation. Such leader must be ready to be fair to all and must be capable of managing crises as they arise.

    “In fact, Nigeria requires a leader that will end insurgency in sixty days… a leader that will lead the war against insurgency, a leader that will recover our daughters from insurgents, leader that will diversify our economy. Leader that will end power problem, create industries in all state capitals to provide employment for teeming youths, leader that will restore security to all nooks and cranny of our nation, leader that will declare his personal properties and forfeit same, leader that will lead by example, leader that will be incorruptible, honest, trustworthy and accountable. This is our search in GAMJI.”

    The GAMJI president expressed delight that the late Sardauna “in spite of wielding enormous powers in the First Republic, was simple, upright and incorruptible whose guiding principles in public services was honesty, public probity, accountability, efficiency, dedication and hard work and in the pursuit of these principles, he did not care whose ox was gored.

    “In fact, after several years as Premier of Northern Nigeria, with a land size of about 56 per cent of the present day Nigeria and undoubtedly the most powerful man in Nigeria during his time, when he died exactly 49 years ago, he left virtually nothing, except the two local mud houses in Sokoto town and Rabbah which he had built before becoming premier.”

    In his remarks, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara state, represented by the state Commissioner for Education and Human Capital Development, Alhaji Saka Onmimago, expressed the hope that the lecture will “explore the Sardauna’s leadership legacies especially in the context of the country ‘s current search for transformative leadership.

    He said that “it is on record that the foundation for much of the development and unification of Northern Nigeria was laid by the late Sir Ahmadu Bello.”

    Ahmed advocated for a “combined leadership and entrepreneur skills in the school curriculum to catch the children young and prepare them for leadership.”

    The guest lecturer of the day, Prof Hassan Saliu of the University of Ilorin said the late premier’s integrity was clearly lacking in “our present political system.”

    The professor of political science added that the Sardauna was honest and not materialistic, saying that “unlike our current politicians whose desire is to conquer the material world with acquisitive tendencies, Sardauna was a highly contented leader who at a great cost to his personal comfort sought for public good for the greater majority of his people.”

    His words: “Some key issues that had agitated the mind of Sardauna of Sokoto during his reign as the premier of the North would form the basis of drawing lessons from his Spartan life for our politicians who have shown a discomfiting level of importance to the core values of honesty, tolerance, religious accommodation making politics to serve the cause of development, promotion of national unity and integration.

    “To be more specific, it is a statement on the contemporary politicians that almost five decades after the demise of Sardauna, Northerners and indeed, Nigerians are still eulogizing him and praying quietly that may another Sir Ahmadu Bello be raised among the country’s contemporary politicians. What this simply means is that our politicians need to search their souls and adjust themselves in terms of the value they subscribe to and legacies they want to bequeath to the nation.

    “Sardauna was a highly sensitive leader who had his eyes and ears all over the Northern region. He formed the habit of consulting with party members all over the region, including Ilorin. As the leader of the north he was closer to the people and had firsthand knowledge of their needs. Throughout his life he worked for his people and the elitist politics of today had no place in the governance architecture of the late Sardauna.

  • Students disown Kwara PDP candidate Ajibola

    The National Association of Ekiti Kwara Students and the Ekiti Local Government Area’s chapter of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) have disowned the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP’s) governorship candidate, Sen. Simeon Ajibola.

    The students’ group told reporters yesterday in Ilorin, the state capital, that they took the decision because Ajibola had not affected their lives as students or youths.

    They also accused the senator representing Kwara South in the National Assembly of not sponsoring a Bill in his 12 years at the Senate.

    Adeniyi Daramola, who spoke for the two groups, said the senator had never attracted any befitting project to the district.

    The spokesman said the PDP candidate only patronised the Millennium Development Goals (MDAs) for contracts.

    He said the little projects he credited to himself with were poorly executed and carried out by his company, which allegedly served as the project consultant.

    Daramola said: “We are embarrassed by imaginary projects adorning posters, billboards, print, electronic and social media …which Kwara South people cannot see.

    “We hereby disown Sen. Simeon Ajibola for denigrating the good people of Ekiti Local Government Area for misrepresentation and going against the collective wish of our people.

    “In fact, to show the disdain he has for our people, the wedding ceremony of his son held in Lagos and Ilorin, instead of his hometown. It would have been an opportunity for his friends to know how unpopular he is at home.

  • GMB: Welcome to Kwara

    They may shout and cry about anything that catches their fancy to denigrate you, but the people’s General, the incorrigible advocate of transparency, the one whose names sends cold shivers down the spine of those who have something to hide from the people of Nigeria, keep on moving with your message of change. For no political conspiracy can stop you from marching to victory again. And so tomorrow Saturday January 31, Ilorin, nay the entire people of Kwara, welcomes you to Garin Alimi and the state of Harmony.

    The stage is set, the people are anxious. They are ready, in deed, eagerly waiting to see the General again. And for those familiar with the dynamics of politics in Kwara State, no one would forget how the Leader, Senator Bukola Saraki, believing he was relating with one whose words are his bond, mobilised support for President Goodluck Jonathan on a similar campaign visit in 2011. But now things have changed.  The people of Kwara, still strongly backing the Leader, have shifted and moved; they have CHANGED, as the APC slogan commands, and hence today are out in their thousands to welcome the General who by the grace of God will lead the next government in Nigeria.

    We embraced change because PDP was sinking. Sinking with corruption, ineptitude, cluelessness, injustice and insecurity. The leadership is sensitive to the deplorable plight of the mass of the people. They are dividing us along ethnic and religious lines while appropriating our commonwealth for the benefit of a few.   For six years, no single life-touching, soul-saving project in our state. Jonathan decimated the Governors’ forum with his hypothesis of 16 being greater than 19 and egregiously aiding and abetting the then party chairman to desecrate our party’s constitution. We left because we could no longer tolerate their gross impunity.

    Now that they admitted that their generation has failed Nigeria (I reject to be part of the failure), Buhari deserves to be President again, nothing less. All over the federation, from the far north down south, the generality of Nigerians have been demonstrating their love and acceptance for the man who can be described without equivocation as the man of the moment. People see in Buhari, the kind of leadership Nigeria needs at a time like this: a leader with courage of conviction, a leader with compassion, a leader with example in fighting corruption, and a leader with credible track record when providence gave him the opportunity. Nigeria needs someone who can stand up in the international community and command respect. We need someone whose word is his bond and not someone who only makes promises without fulfilling them. We need a man of the masses, not a man for a few whose pastime is plundering our collective resources.

    Truth be told, Nigerians are tired of empty promises, we are no longer ready to follow a leader who gropes in the dark on grave issues of national security, we need a leader who can stand firm, who will take security intelligence with the seriousness it deserves and not someone who will be dancing on the grave of innocent citizens killed by terrorists because the nation refused to equip those who have signed their lives away to protect the people. And that is why all efforts to denigrate Buhari have failed; because the people know that they were orchestrated to cover the glaring failures of the incumbent. And that is why other efforts still on their agenda will fail, because the reality has dawned on Nigerians that we have been taken for granted these past years but now we have an opportunity to take our destiny in our hands. This is our time and this is Buhari’s time as history beckons to a man of destiny. With the support of the people, the genuine change that Nigeria needs will surely come.

    General we take solace in your promise to “end the impunity of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP), a party that has proved clueless in every manner. It has failed to deal squarely with the great security challenge that has faced this nation within the last five years. And it has remained touchy and impervious to all constructive criticism and without concern for human life and for the suffering going on in the land”. ýThey wish you dead because your hands of justice know no bound. But we shall not curse them. You shall commiserate with their family when they eventually pass on.

    Buhari’s is the face of hope; he is the symbol of integrity and no matter how much they try to splash mud on his garments, he will continue to come out clean, and even better shined than before. What he has to offer is what Nigeria needs now and that explains the massive support the retired General has been receiving all over the nation. And that is why Kwarans from all walks of life will converge on the state capital tomorrow to welcome the man of the moment; the man on whose shoulder destiny will put the shape of things to come for our dear fatherland. We have been choked for long, we have endured much pain and disappointments, we have been deceived as a people and now we are holding our destiny in our hands. We are not going to give in to political rapists who will just enjoy the pleasure of our bodies and leave us bruised and traumatised. Yes, they may boast they have the resources, but we have our votes. They cannot buy our conscience. We will give our votes to those we know will use it to love us and bless our union. In Kwara we will give our votes to Buhari/Osinbajo. And that is why we will be trooping out in numbers on Saturday to welcome you, our General.

    Our mothers, our fathers, our brothers and sisters today queue behind the Leader, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki to welcome your Mai Gaskiya to the State ýof Harmony.

    Welcome to our midst, the man of the moment.

     

    •  Abdulwahaab, chief press Secretary to the Kwara State Governor, writes from Ilorin.