2019: Kwara North APC elders forum calls for power shift

POLITICAL leaders and stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Kwara state, under the aegis of the Kwara North APC Elders Forum, have said that it is the turn of the zone to produce next governor of the state based on good conscience and justice.

Speaking with journalists in Ilorin on Thursday, the leader of the group, Senator Mohammed Ahmed, said that the Kwara North senatorial district had not produced governor of the state 20 years after an uninterrupted democracy of the Fourth Republic.

The people, who said that the Kwara Central senatorial district had enjoyed three terms as governor (late Mohammed Lawal 1999-2003 and Dr Bukola Saraki 2003-2011), added that the governorship slot should shift to Kwara North at the end of two terms of the present incumbent Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed from Kwara South senatorial district in 2019.

Kwara North APC Elders also described as worrisome high number of governorship aspirants from Kwara Central senatorial district in the 2019 governorship race, saying that the development “tends to make a mockery of our collective desire for order, fairness and justice.”

The people said that the area had always produced about 80 per cent of votes that brought in past governors in previous elections, adding that the gesture should be reciprocated now that it is only Kwara North that is yet to produce a governor for the state.

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“A majority of our people are now asking where is our common bond, culture and history that has always been professed,” Senator Ahmed said, adding that, “Our traditional rulers, elder statesmen and youth organizations across the senatorial district are all on one page with us on this project. Every patriotic Kwara North citizen is asking for justice.”

The people appealed to indigenes of Kwara Central and Kwara South senatorial districts to support their course, while also urging leaders of all political parties to adopt their position by presenting governorship candidates from the Kwara North senatorial district only.

Also, a Coalition of Kwara North Groups, an umbrella body of all organizations in the zone, has resolved to back all governorship aspirants from Kwara North senatorial district from, both the APC and PDP, in their aspiration to govern the state come 2019.

A statement signed by the leader of the group, Comrade Kolo Majin, and which was made available to journalists in Ilorin on Thursday, said that the group, on behalf of the traditional rulers, elders, women and youth in the area saw the aspirants as worthy and capable of leading the state to more prosperity.