Why Abdulahi Yaman is Kwara’s best choice

By: Abdulfaitai Raheem

Kwarans will go to the polls on the 11th of March to either elect a new governor or return the incumbent governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazak. The election will be a referendum on Abdulrahman Abdulrazak’s tenure in office. The guber election in Kwara is already shaping up to be a hard-fought race between 5 parties, The incumbent APC, PDP, YPP, SDP and NNPP.

In 2019, Kwarans were hoodwinked by latter day saviours into the Otoge mini revolution that got Governor Abdulrazaq elected to office, ever since then people have complained about the lack of experience from the governor and his retinue of appointees and aides. The governor started his tenure by picking fights with fellow APC members and Otoge crooners. He then started a war of supremacy and vendetta against the Saraki Family, as if that will endear him more to everyday Kwarans that only needed to see the dividends of Democracy and good governance.

The governor pushed out the state party exco that helped elect him into office and then fictionalised the party, The party then broke into two with the BOB faction moving to set up another secretariat. All efforts by the national headquarters and leaders of the party from the North Central zone to reconcile the feuding factions failed. The governor did not welcome any reconciliation efforts, he went on to alienate and heavily criticise other party leaders like Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture; Sen. Gbemisola Saraki, Minister of State, Solid Mineral Development; Akogun Iyiola Oyedepo, Prof. Oba Abdulrahim, former Vice Chancellor, University of Ilorin and ex-chairman, Federal Character Commission (FCC), Hon. Hakeem Lawal, Alh. Yakubu Gobir, Alh. Yahaya Seriki, Alh. Yaman Abdullahi, Hon. Saheed Popoola, and many of the APC leaders in the state.

Asides from internal party squabbles, his personal vendetta against the former Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki led him to abandon all previous projects and failed to propose a coherent plan for everyday Kwarans, he was busy with personal fights and four years later, there is a consensus that the governor has failed Kwarans and he cannot point to any achievement in his first term in office as he seeks another term. Unlike 2019’s Otoge, the main slogan in Kwara is now Osu wa- meaning we are tired.

The original O to Ge – APC platform of 2019 has now broken into pieces such that a quarter is now populating Social Democratic Party (SDP), led by Akeem Lawal, the gubernatorial candidate. Another quarter is in the New Nigerian People’s Party (NNPP) where Prof. Oba Abdulrahim (Oba Abu), another former APC chieftain, is the flagbearer, while a third quarter is in Young People’s Party (YPP) led by Yakubu Gobir, formerly of APC, who is the gubernatorial candidate. All these former allies are set to do battle with the Governor.

The PDP elected Yaman Abdulahi as its governorship candidate in a transparent process, and he has immediately hit the ground running with his campaign. Abdulahi Yaman is a renowned businessman from Tsonga, Kwara North. The ABU Zaria graduate has shown his capacity in the private sector by building multiple successful companies and he is now ready to give back to the people of Kwara by serving them.

Shuaibu Yaman Abdulahi is an experienced technocrat, he is a current Federal Commissioner, Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Commission, he has added value to the country via several appointments like the Mineral and Metals National Technical Working Group for Vision 2020 where he was a member. He was also a member of the Abuja Investment company board from 2018-2019 and was a member of the Railway board in 2007. Shuaibu Abdulahi Yaman was the Chairman of the Railway Reform Implementation Committee from 2006 till 2007 when Nigeria sought to revamp its railway sector, the result of his rigorous background job can still be felt today with new rail infrastructure.

Shuaibu Abdulahi Yaman has the required government and private sector experience, in the private sector, he was appointed a Director, Media Trust Limited, the publishers of Daily Trust Newspaper and Director, Trade Bank PLC and locally in Kwara he was Director of Kwara State Grains Production Company. Kwara needs this balance of public and private sector to drive the state to new heights.

Abdulahi Yaman has identified mechanised agriculture in Kwara as one of the most important sectors in the state and he has promised to provide 20,000 jobs through cotton production, Abdulahi Yaman believes the axis of Barunten and Kaiama Local Government Areas of Kwara state could boast of cotton production, and he will establish a ginnery to create jobs by working with the private sector.

According to him, “I have spoken to Chinese companies who could build generators powered by coal. We have coal in abundance in nearby Kogi that can assist in power generation needed by the cotton clusters we intend to create with that, we can make our product competitive and undercut illegal imports, providing jobs from which tax can be paid to the government.”

Human capital development is another core area of focus, which is why it wasn’t surprising when he was endorsed by the National Association of Kwara State Students (NAKSS). The President of NAKSS, Mr Alawaye Musbau decried the state of investment in education and human capital development by the incumbent APC government and stated that the PDP candidate is the only alternative after they held interactive sessions with all the other opposition candidates in the state. Abdulahi Yaman thanked them and stated that no child will be denied public education and promised to revive the student loan board to guarantee uninterrupted schooling for pupils in the state.

The PDP candidate has also promised to continue the legacy of previous PDP administrations by completing abandoned projects that Governor Abdulrazak has ignored because of personal differences. As Kwarans go to the polls, we must consider the platform that has done it before, the one that gave us great infrastructure, an aviation school, a state university and multiple roads, we must ignore the mistake of 2019 to avoid voting inexperienced people with a rush of blood to the head, it is important to make informed decisions for our future.

Abdulfaitai Raheem writes from Ilorin