Unusual silence on Kwara governorship train

BIOLA AZEEZ writes on the seeming non interest in the upcoming governorship elections by political players in the state.

There is a situation happening now which many political pundits have described as unusual silence on the 2019 governorship contest in Kwara State. Interestingly, the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Dr Ali Ahmad, being touted in some quarters in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as one of the expected aspirants and likely candidate in the contest, denied any ambition to that effect last week.

Ahmad, who was reacting to a publication in one of the newspapers in the state, said that he has not declared his intention to contest the governorship of the state or any other position as published by the newspaper. The Speaker explained that what he said was that, as a citizen of the country, he would be willing to serve in any public office only if the people of the state, hierarchy and stakeholders of the APC considered him worthy of such position.

He said what is important to him, for now, is to continue to make the legislature under his watch, to provide platform for good governance and responsive to the yearnings of the people of the state. He cautioned media practitioners against sensationalism, in order not to overheat the nation’s polity. The above narratives tried to paint a picture behind what has been described as seeming silence in the 2019 governorship race in the state.

Meanwhile, the reason for the seeming silence, particularly within the ruling APC may not be unconnected to what is described in some quarters as a deliberate decision by the aspirants in the party to delay declaration of their interest till the coast is clear as to the direction the party leadership was going.

For instance, in the November 18, 2017 local government elections in the APC, chairmanship and councillorship candidates emerged through consensus arrangement. The state publicity secretary of APC, Alhaji Sulyman Buhari, said that candidates for 14 out of the 16 councils emerged through consensus arrangements, adding that primaries were conducted in the remaining two local government areas.

“Prior to the primary election, the party leadership had advised aspirants to consider the option of consensus arrangements and the party is pleased to note that many councils embraced the consensus option. For Baruten and Offa  Local Government Areas, the aspirants could not agree on consensus building. Therefore, the party decided to conduct primary elections for the aspirants. While primary elections has been successfully conducted in Baruten Local Government Area, the party is aware of some issues from Offa Local Government Area.”

Often, members of the structure have defended the system in what is called consensus arrangement, saying it is devoid of wastage of financial resources, acrimony and bad blood that may trail regular primaries.

Also, the arrangement in the ruling political structure has created a situation where one may not necessarily see posters of aspirants declaring interest to contest one political position or the other. What one would eventually see are posters of candidates that had emerged out of consensus arrangement.

It was also gathered that aside the ruling APC and the main opposition party in the state, which is the PDP, virtually most of the other political parties in the state are only playing complementary roles to the two leading parties.

Political watchers said that the situation among these other political parties was not helped with the current socioeconomic hardship in the country, which they said had rendered them incapacitated to function effectively as they should, as well as reported friction and factionalisation among them.

In the November 18, 2017 local government elections in Kwara State where 11 political parties participated, the ruling APC won in all the 16 local government areas, while the PDP only won eight councillorship seats. Another germane issue here is that of rotation arrangement, especially in the ruling APC in the state. The Kwara State governorship seat is rotated among three senatorial districts in the state, namely Kwara South, Kwara North, and Kwara Central. After expiration of eight years of the incumbent government headed by a Kwara South representative, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, a member of another senatorial district is expected to take over the saddle.

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The incumbent governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed would be completing his eight years on May 29, 2019. He took over from the present Senate president, Dr Bukola Saraki, who represented the Kwara Central senatorial district. He also completed two terms of eight years in 2011.

While some people expect is that Kwara North should take a shot at the slot come 2019, as argued by one of the supporters of a governorship aspirant from Kwara north, Alhaji Yaman Abdullahi, Mallam Ismail Zakariyau, said, “since Nigeria’s return to democratic governance in 1999, Kwara Central has governed the state for 12 years, Kwara South is completing its eight years in 2019 and it is only natural for Kwara North to take over in 2019’’.

However, there are speculations that the 2019 governorship slot is going back to the Kwara Central senatorial district. One of the postulations put forward by pundits for this is due to show of interest in the 2019 governorship race by key leaders of the ruling party from the Kwara central senatorial district, despite their loud silence.

However, that decision is being expected from the leadership of the structure, headed by the Senate President, Dr Saraki. Until that decision is made, observers say that aspirants for governorship contest may just be nursing the ambition. Meanwhile, some names of APC governorship aspirants on lips of residents of the state include a former aide to the Senate President on special duties, Moshood Mustapha, who resigned his appointment with the hope to commence actualisation of his purported ambition. People who have noted the grouping of youths in some areas in his support are still expecting his planned moves to materialise.

Others from Kwara Central senatorial district being mentioned include the former national chairman of the defunct new PDP, Alhaji Kawu Baraje, Honourable  Abdulrazak Atunwa, and the incumbent Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Dr Ali Ahmad, who had recently denied such ambition.

However, members of the PDP, the major opposition party in the state who are not under any binding political structure have commenced political moves towards 2019 governorship elections. Some members of the opposition identified already include a retired superintendent of police and philanthropist, Alhaji Mohammed Ajia Ibrahim, a banker and proprietor of a radio station, Alhaji Lukman Mustapha, son of former governor of the state, Alhaji Akeem Lawal, a minister of national planning in Goodluck Jonathan administration, Alhaji Suleiman Abubakar, former governorship candidate, Dele Belgore SAN, including a stalwart of PDP, Professor Abdulraheem Oba, who was former Vice-Chancellor, University of Ilorin. Interestingly, they are all from Kwara Central senatorial district.

Part of preparation by the opposition party include that of a political organisation, formed by people of Igbomina, Ibolo and Ekiti axis of the Kwara South senatorial district, Aaro Meta organisation, which have called for review of political situation in the state over perceived political losses in the last 20 years.

Speaking at a one-day political summit, tagged, “From Progress to Oblivion: critical examination of Kwara South” in Omu Aran at the weekend, chairman of the organisation, Chief Samuel Daramola, lamented alleged political irregularities in the existing structure in the state, saying that the situation had affected development in the area.

Chief Daramola, who said that Kwara South senatorial district had 10 seats in the state House of Assembly since 1979, added that Baruten/Kaiama local governments with one state House of Assembly seat in 1979 now has four seats. The group, which said that only real change in the political structure in the state could correct the situation, added that the senatorial district with three members of the federal House of Representatives in 1979 has only two by 1999.

“Our neighbour, then Oyi now in Kogi State with four state Assembly seats now has five state Assembly seats and one federal House member in 1979 now has two federal House members since 1999”, he said.

He said that mission of the group was to ensure that all elected and appointed representatives from the area in the next elections were true representatives of the people, “who will be answerable to the people, who will have their people as the point of reference and then who will fight for the need of their people”.

Chief Daramola, who called for unity among the people, said that the clamour for change could only be achieved when done under one political party platform. In his paper, titled, Politics yesterday, today and tomorrow, at the occasion, chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Akogun Iyiola Oyedepo, called for timely political intervention in perceived years of misgovernment in the state.

“Think of it, the land in Kwara South is left fallow, continuously drained of economic activities, there is rural urban migration that leaves us empty, the vibrant young ones turn their back against their fatherland, and it looks like a land without future and hope”, he said, challenging members of the organisation on assignment at hand.

Meanwhile one of the aspirants from the opposition, Mohammed Ajia Ibrahim has had his ambition boosted by support of some youths in the state as the  youths across the 193 wards in the state, under the aegis of Kwara Youth Stakeholders Forum (KYSF), have endorsed him, as a preferred governorship choice ahead of the general elections.

According to a communiqué issued at the end of its fourth annual conference in Ilorin at the weekend, the youth organisation said that it was high time youths took over mantle of leadership in the state.

The chairman of the forum, Comrade Charles Olufemi, said that the youths across the 16 local government areas in the state had unanimously agreed to present Alhaji Ibrahim as the sole governorship candidate in the next general elections considering his philanthropic activities, especially in the area of medical outreach in the 16 local government areas of the state.

Comrade Olufemi, who said that youths formed 75 per cent of population in the state, added that it was imperative to allow the generation to rule and bring back the lost glory of the state. He also said that youths should take over leadership because old generation had failed the entire country. The group advised youths across the state to ensure that they collect their PVC, as tools to change the change, saying that the state must be free from dictatorship and political dynasty.