A group of people from Kwara North senatorial district have dissociated themselves from the reported agreement with the Senate President Bukola Saraki and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the forthcoming general elections in the state for power shift to the zone in 2023.
The group under the aegis of All Progressives Congress (APC) Elders said the purported memorandum of understanding reached with Senator Saraki, traditional rulers and stakeholders from the north was a charade.
It will be recalled that the ruling PDP in the state on Sunday announced that it had signed a pact with the Kwara North to shift governorship position to the zone in 2023 on the basis of securing their support for PDP candidates in this year’s general elections.
Speaking during a press conference in Ilorin, the leader of the APC elders, Senator Ahmed Mohammed said the traditional rulers from the zone and the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari were corralled to witness the alleged undertaking to invest the pact with authenticity.
Senator Mohammed added: “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.”
Senator Mohammed also lamented the deplorable infrastructural situation in the zone under the Saraki dynasty over the years.
