THE leader of ‘Making The Right Choice Of Governor For Kwara State’, (MRCGKWS) Mr Emmanuel Ajala has urged eligible voters in the state to use experience, probity and academic competence as yardsticks for who to vote for as successor of Governor AbdulRahaman AbdulRazaq in 2027 Governorship election in the state.
Ajala, a legal practitioner yesterday in a press conference in Ilorin said good governance would often start with the right choice rather than ethnicity, religion or sex. His organization he said was constituted to guide eligible voters in making the right choice of candidate for the next Governorship poll in the state.
He noted, “I am not a politician but has interest on who should govern me and my children. It is what we should enjoy in democracy. Kwara is a multi ethnic and religious state. But if we must be honest with ourselves, we need to jettison all these but concentrate on who has the best qualities among those being tipped as successor to Governor AbdulRazaq. This should be the first step we should take.
“The world over, persons with requisite experience, impeccable character and academic acumen are being considered for political leadership. He must be a grassroot person and not a foreign impostor who doesn’t understand the immediate and remote needs of the people.”
The leader of the movement, while describing ‘god fatherism’ in politics as a part of democratic system urged “political sponsors” to recommend only for leadership positions, persons that would be acceptable to the voters, noting that the era of political docility was over in the state.
Already, according to The Guardian checks across the state, Professor Ali Babatunde Ahmed of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the incumbent Speaker of the State House of Assembly (KWSHA) Engineer Salihu Yakubu-Danladi and the Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Lateef Olasunkanmi Fagbemi SAN are arguably considered as the leading candidates for the plum job.
But expectedly, many political actors in the state are refraining from making comments on the development. At present, the state is under the firm control of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The Chairman of the state APC, Prince Sunday Fagbemi (he doesn’t have any degree of affinity or consanguinity with Fagbemi SAN) believed that choosing a successor of AbdulRazaq “at this time will be a distraction to effective governance. When we get to the bridge we will seamlessly cross it.”
His counterpart from the PDP, Hon. Tunde Mohammed said the choice would be determined “at the right time. Our leaders are not sleeping they know what to do at the right time. It is too early to disclose our candidate for the post right now. But I know that when the time comes, Kwarans will embrace the quality candidate we will present to them.”
Ali, a single term House of Representatives member from Gbodofu Unit, Ilorin East/South Federal Constituency (2011-2015) topped the list with his intimidating political and academic records. At the House, he was the Chairman of Committee on Justice and sponsored successfully over 15 bills within four years.
The most prominent among such bills was Administration of Criminal Justice in the Seventh Assembly. Ali, a polyglot speaks fluently; English, Yoruba, Hausa, Arabic and Nupe languages. He is a product of Harvard Law School, Cambridge Massachusetts, United States. He was called to Nigerian Bar (1989) and New York Bar, (1998).
He was the Speaker of the KWSHA when he succeeded Rasak Atunwa. Ali gave a quality leadership that was second to none in the history of the legislative branch of governance. He was a Law Lecturer at Bayero University, Kano.
Yakubu-Danladi, a reputable Engineer remains the youngest Speaker of the state House of Assembly. Under his Speakership, the state has enjoyed robust relationship with the Executive arm. This development and his political versatility has made the state legislature, one of the most peaceful in the country.
The Speaker, was born in Gwanara, in Ilesha/Gwanara Baruten Constituency of Kwara. He was elected in 2019 as the Speaker of the 9th KWSHA and re elected in 2023. He was the Kwara North Senatorial District Coordinator of the Muhammadu Buhari Campaign Organization in 2011. Buhari had in the year contested the Presidential elections under the platform of the Congress of Progressive Change (CPC).
For Fagbemi, his forays into political murky water were touted as comprehensive and highly tactical. He started his political services at a very high level due to his cerebral attitude to sensitive and fragile issues. The legal luminary, a Prince from Ijagbo Oyun Local Government Area (LGA) of Kwara state, may inject new ideas into governance if given a chance.
Lurking on the political sideline is Engineer Opeyemi Olabanji, an egg head politician from Ijan-Otun in Irepodun LGA of the state. An APC stalwart, the youthful Olabanji is a rural mobiliser with firm control of his constituency. He had never lost any election since 1999 in his constituency.
Reacting to the development, Chief Wole Oke, a former Secretary of Egbe Afenifere in the state, said the people of the state rather any god father will determine “who will be the next Governor of our dear state. When the majority speak, the choice will be widely acceptable to all and Sundry.”
Ends.