THE elders of All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Kwara North senatorial district has dissociated itself from the reported agreement with the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the forthcoming general elections in the state.
The people said that the purported Memorandum of Understanding reached with Senator Bukola Saraki, traditional rulers and stakeholders from the North meant nothing.
It is recalled that the ruling PDP in the state on Sunday announced that it had signed a pact with the Kwara North people to shift governorship position to the zone in 2023.
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In another vein, leaders from Kwara North senatorial district, made up of bureaucrats and opinion leaders, have praised the understanding announced on Sunday by leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party ((PDP) which will see the governorship slot shifting to the Kwara North in 2023.
The same agreement will also see the positions of Speaker of the State House of Assembly and Secretary to the State Government (SSG) being zoned to the same Senatorial District in the post-2019 government.
In a statement signed by Alhaji Dabarako Mohammed, a former Head of Service, on behalf of former top civilian servants and opinion leaders from the district, they described the arrangement as a positive move which will guarantee peace, unity, inclusiveness, equity, even development and justice among the various zones in the state.
The leaders of thought noted that the people of Kwara North senatorial district had been yearning for solid representation in the post-2019 government in the state and that since the PDP had been thoughtful enough to offer them a plan which recognised the importance of the zone in the political equation, then the party should be rest assured that it will have bloc votes from the zone at all levels in the coming elections.
While speaking with journalists in Ilorin on Tuesday, the leader of the APC elders in the state, Senator Ahmed Mohammed, said that the traditional rulers from the zone and the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, were only put together to make the event authentic.
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“The royal fathers were corralled in place as witnesses to the solemn undertaking being executed in recognition of the perceived monumental injustice suffered in the last 16 years of our political inter-relationship with the Saraki dynasty”.
“Ordinarily, we would not have bothered to react to what is essentially an intra-party affair, but the presence of our royal fathers at the occasion raises some concerns among well-meaning patriotic leaders and stakeholders from the zone because of its capability to confer legitimacy on what has been widely regarded as an act of deceit, a piece of chicanery executed in duplicity and bad faith and generally borne out of desperation to cling to power by all means”.
“For the avoidance of doubt, we hereby wish to state categorically that contrary to the impression that the agreement is meant to create in the public mind, the vast majority of our people are more than ever before united in purposeful determination, in concert with others across the state, to do away with bad leadership that the PDP has offered over the years”.
“APC, which is the future of democracy in Kwara state holds better opportunities for us, which, unlike the PDP, its own style will be a collective leadership, not a one-man dictatorship. We can be rest assured that the principle of rotation and zoning will be the cardinal principle that everybody will observe and respect for the overall good of our dear state.
“We advise very strongly that our traditional institution should be insulated from the murky waters of politics. By bringing them to witness what is essentially an intra-party deal is to say the least both demeaning and despicable. The Kwara North joins other senatorial districts to put an end to the despotic, exploitative dynasty that has kept the state in bondage for so many years. Enough is enough”, he said.
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