In the build up to the commencement of the electioneering process ahead the forthcoming general election in Kwara State, the people of the Kwara North Senatorial District did not hide their displeasure over alleged marginalization in terms of political appointment. The people, through their traditional rulers, political and youth leaders, had argued that it is the turn of the senatorial district to produce next governor of the state, at the expiration of the two-term tenure of the incumbent Peoples Democratic Party (PDP0-led administration of Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed.
Weeks before the party primaries in the state, last year, the people had issued strong warning to whoever cared to listen that they would not take it lying low for any opposing view to their agitation to produce the next governorship candidate of all the parties participating in the forthcoming elections. They urged all the political parties in the state to pick their standard-bearer from the senatorial zone, arguing that doing so would be in the interest of justice and fairness.
However, almost all the political parties in the state turned a deaf ear to the call by the Kwara North Senatorial District as they all failed to pick their governorship candidates from the district. They all cited exigencies of the present political environment, calculation and emerging necessities across the state as their reasons for not heeding the call by the people of Kwara North Senatorial District. The decision of the political parties left the people were left with no other choice than to shelve their desire and work with like-minds till when another opportunity presents itself.
While the people were still nursing their wounds, what appeared to be a new dimension that may alter the political calculation in the state ahead came from the blues as the state leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), last Sunday night, announced that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with political leaders of Kwara North Senatorial District to ensure and effect power shift to the district by 2023. Undoubtedly, the announcement by the Kwara PDP leadership caught many stakeholders unaware, more so, coming less than a month to the first set of election slated for February.
By the agreement, it means that the governorship candidate of the ruling party in the state, Honourable Razaq Atunwa, would do only one term if PDP eventually wins the forthcoming governorship election. By every sense, Kwara North is the beautiful bride in the state as the elections draw nearer. Since the restoration of democracy in the country in 1999, the senatorial district has not been able to produce the chief executive for the state, notwithstanding the fact that it has well-qualified sons and daughters. All expectations therefore are that 2019 would be the turn of the senatorial district since Kwara Central has produced the governor (1999-2011) and Kwara South has also been ruling ruled from 2011 to date.
However, rising opposition to the continued domination of the political landscape by the Saraki political structure changed the permutations, both for the PDP and the opposition All Progressive Congress (APC). For APC, Kwara Central remains the best place to pick its governorship candidate because of population and the perceived need to ‘deal’ with Senate President Bukola Saraki, using his own people and kinsmen. Kwara Central controls about 50 per cent of the total votes in the state. For the PDP, Kwara Central is the suitable bride best in order to checkmate the incursion of APC to it sees as it is traditionally safe area.
At the end of the day, Kwara North was sacrificed by both parties. The people expectedly reacted badly. PDP, having a control over the central leadership, was able to easily handle the fall out. The main opposition party in the state, however, faced a greater challenge, coupled with its controversial primary which result had to be ferried to Abuja and it took weeks of horse trading before it was announced. During those weeks, there were daily protests by APC members from the Kwara North Senatorial District who felt cheated in the arrangements which led to the party picking its governorship candidate from Kwara Central Senatorial District.
The bitterness among the APC members stemmed from the belief that, having escaped the alleged dictatorship of the Saraki Empire, their voices would be genuinely heard in the opposition party where they belonged. Having realised that their agitations could not change the permutations from Abuja, the APC leaders from the aggrieved senatorial district eventually agreed to sheathe their swords and worked for the victory of their party.
While everyone seemed to have relaxed and accepted that Kwara North Senatorial District would wait for another eight years before providence would shift the governorship ticket its way, the Saraki Dynasty came out with what PDP members in the state have hailed as a game changer; an agreement that does not only compensate the people of the senatorial district for the moment, but also with the assurance that they would not have to wait another eight years before getting their rights.
Perhaps to establish the fact that he too has learned his lesson in political negotiation, the PDP in the state, Senator Bukola Saraki, ensured that the new arrangement was well documented, signed and witnessed by traditional rulers and shown to the media. His recent campaign has demonstrated one lesson: that in 2015 he went to support APC without a written agreement on who takes what at the end of the battle and thus when he aspired to be the Senate President, he met stiff resistance from the same people he had helped to power.
For Kwara North Senatorial District, that would not be the case, according to the Director General of the Kwara State PDP Campaign Council, Professor Sulaiman Abubakar, who spoke with journalists in company of the state chairman of the party, Mr Kola Shittu, where he unveiled the new plan.
“About an hour ago, the Kwara State PDP leadership just completed a meeting with Leaders of Thought from the Kwara North Senatorial District. The meeting was also attended by leaders of the party across the state. The sole purpose of the meeting was for us to have an understanding on specific terms on issues bothering on power shift, cohesion, giving sense of belonging and inclusiveness to our people across all the three senatorial districts.
“The conclusion of the meeting is that there will be power shift to Kwara North in 2023. Also, the positions of the Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly and Secretary to Kwara State Government have been zoned to Kwara North in the post-May 29, 2019 government.
“The understanding has been committed to writing and signed by all key stakeholders present. The stakeholders present at the meeting include National Leader of PDP, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki, Governor Abdulfatai Ahmed, governorship candidate of the party, Honourable Rasak Atunwa, Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Dr Alli Ahmed, Director General of the Mandate 2019, Professor Abubakar Sulaimon, chairman of the party, Mr Kola Shittu and other leaders of the party in the three senatorial districts.
“Traditional rulers from Kwara North Senatorial District and Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu Gambari were consulted on the understanding and they gave their royal blessing to the terms and contents. In their speeches at the meeting, the traditional rulers expressed support for any move that would ensure equity, justice and unity among all the various zones in the state. They also noted that their decision to serve as witnesses is based on the need to ensure that political leaders honour and respect the contents of the understanding and work for peace and progress of the state before, during and after the general election.
“Also, in return, the people of Kwara North Senatorial District have agreed to deliver the bloc vote from the zone to PDP in the general election. We believe this understanding aimed at re-enforcing the unity, harmony and even development of our dear state is definitely necessary for the continued progress of Kwara State now and in the future,” he said.
Reacting to the development, APC in Kwara state, through the publicity secretary of the party, Alhaji Tajudeen Aro, described the pact as undemocratic. The opposition party, which said the pact is an attempt by the Saraki political structure to sustain its dominance on the state, doubted the possibility of fulfilling the terms of the agreement reached.
However, to members of the PDP in the state, the arrangement is unique in many ways and would have far-reaching consequences on the outcome of the coming election. According to a PDP supporter in the state, Alhaji Mohammed Cisse, “For once, it is the first time that any party in the state will enter into a written covenant with any group on power shift. It will now awaken other groups and stakeholders to the fact that they too can negotiate on what they can take away from politics for their people.
“Ceding the Speakership and SSG to the northern district would also put APC at a crossroads on where to fix those offices. Already, the party is said to be having challenges in confirming the choice of its deputy governorship candidate. Therefore, PDP has cleverly introduced another clog into the wheel for the opposition to move with, few weeks to the election. It could prove a clumsy movement for the opposition that has been growing its wing in the zone.”
Political analysts in the state were also of the view that the permutation behind the latest move would be that APC cannot pledge only one term and sign such an agreement for its governorship candidate, thereby effectively pushing opportunities for its members from Kwara North Senatorial District to produce a governor in the state to 2027, a long time for impatient politicians. Expectedly, the agreement would ensure that political stakeholders in the district would give their support to PDP. If that works, then Senate President Saraki would have truly introduced a game change to the politics of Kwara State.
and then