THE choice of who emerges the next Governor of Kwara state may be a titanic battle between the proponents of rotational system and those who want to eradicate ‘god ‘fatherism’ from governance in the state.
Since the return of democracy some 26 years ago, Kwara North a section of the existing three Senatorial Districts in the state, is yet to have a taste of the plum seat. Instead it had been a domination by the South and Central Senatorial Districts. The South had it for eight uninterrupted years through Alhaji AbduFattah Ahmed.
Like the game of draft, each of the major proponents is taking the vital step in his mind, watching in the process the opponent to falter and get to the desired level on the political board.
GlobalReportage of sources in Ilorin who caved for anonymity said the Governor would allegedly want his successor from the North axis of the state, comprising of Edu, Kiama, Patigi, Moro and Baruten Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state.
Two factors could be responsible for this choice; the need for hegemonic political balancing and the crave for a successor who would only see what his predecessor wanted him to see.
Akogun Iyiola Oyedepo, the pivotal figure of the ‘O’toge’ political movement that swept off from the scene the age long political structure of late Olusola Saraki, disclosed that political ‘god fatherism” in the state polity since 1999 had never allowed the state to properly churn out the political dividends to the people of the state.
Alhaji AbdulKareem Olola-Kasum, an Ilorin based social critic said that ‘god fatherism” remains “an imposition of candidates on the overwhelming majority in a quasi democracy being touted as a full blown democracy.”
According to Oyedepo a legal practitioner and an author of many books especially the one titled; ‘Letter To The Emir’, “until the demon of ‘god fatherism’ is eradicated from our political system here in Kwara, qualified candidates who understand the political exigencies of our dear state would not be allowed to hold vital political offices. We noticed that, the political intervention usually starts at the level of shadow election where a particular foreign based candidate would be imposed on the people by the so called powers that be.”
For Engineer Opeyemi Olabanji, a staunch member of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC from Ijan-Otun in Irepodun LGA of Kwara, “such foreign based candidates after their electoral victories and their impositions would at first, destroy the existing political structures on ground and give the people structural edifices in place of constructions of access roads to open up agrarian settlements of the state for seamless movements of farm produce from villages to towns.
” We want people who will bring back effective railway system that will link up our state with neighbouring states for a free flow economic exchanges of goods and services. I believe that these developments will guide our amiable Governor in lending his supports to the right successor.”
In the same vein, Oyedepo while craving for the best successor irrespective of where he hails from within the state opined; “some of us are watching the political developments in Kwara with a very keen interest. But nobody can say precisely for now where the next Governor will come from. But as a person, I don’t believe that a single Senatorial District can produce the next Governor without the collaboration of at least one other District.
“This I had studied and known since the year 1999. Therefore , it will be a ruse to assume that a section has an overwhelming population to the exclusion of others. Under such an assumption, people often forget that in most cases, non natives are even more in population than the so called indigenous people.”
Until his demise few days ago, Chief Stephen Wole Oke, an APC chieftain from Moro LGA had been one of the leading figures of the proponents of the need for the emergence of the next Governor from the North. He told the Guardian in an exclusive interview that only “an enemy of democracy would not want the successor of AbdulRazaq”, from Kwara North. We remain the only Senatorial District that had never produced the Governor of the state under this republic.” Although, Oke would read this inside his grave, his people and even the generation yet unborn will know his position on it. May his soul rest in peace.
The Kwara Central still hold the ace as at the time of writing this report. It is the seat of the state capital. Besides, if we consider the might and the efficacies of the two most prominent political parties in the state; the APC and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), they are under the controls of the people.
This is so due to the enactments under the regime of former President Olusegun Obasanjo who ceded powers of the political parties to the Governors of the states. Unlike during the Second Republic when the powers resided with the parties chairmen. Therefore, arguably in Kwara the PDP is under the firm control of ex Senate President Bukola Saraki while the APC is powered by the Governor. Both personalities hail from Kwara Central Senatorial District.
But Oyedepo cautioned against the use of the phrase, “it is our turn.” He said there was no meeting by the constituents to decide on who should be the candidate of their Senatorial District. He alleged that the choices had always been that of the “god fathers”, who oftentimes use such candidates after their elections for egocentric purposes. He added, “they will now start telling the voters from their district that they should cast their votes for their kinsman rather than someone outside their district, even where such a kinsman appears as a weaker candidate.”
For Oyedepo, “we don’t have a convention or any agreement for rotation of the Governorship seat in Kwara state. That’s why no candidate should be imposed on anyone as the candidate of a particular district. Other people from the other districts will simultaneously come out to contest for the sole sloth as well. But at the end only one candidate will pick the ticket. It will just be a mere argument that it should be the turn of Kwara North in the year 2027.
“If he is produced by any god father, he will not be the candidate of the district but that of the god father. He will be there to protect the interest of his God father and not that of the people. What should be our priority is to look for a competent and a knowledgeable person to help fix the state along the lines of its needs. We should jettison the usual way it was done in the past. We need to move forward as a state.”
But for Saka Salawu, from Shao in Moro LGA of the state, the people of Kwara North would tenaciously follow the steps of Chief Oke to ensure the sustainability of their agitation for a Kwaran North Governor for the state in the year 2027 elections.
Saka, a chieftain of the APC told The Guardian in Ilorin that, “one of the fastest ways to get more infrastructure in our democracy is to vote a candidate from your area to power. Among the three Senatorial Districts in Kwara today, it remains a notorious fact that we are the least developed. Our road network is the worst. The water supply and electricity distributions are abysmally low. We are like a land forsaken among the others. There is nothing wrong if others ponder on these factors and cede the Governorship to us this time around.
As the game for the soul of Kwara come 2027 continues between those clamouring for a paradigm shift to the North and those agitating for merit, the state Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Prince Sunday Fagbemi cautioned against over heating the polity with “unnecessary permutations.”
According to him, “what we need is patience and maturity to first ensure that the incumbent succeeds in office before thinking of a successor. There are democratic norms in place for producing successors and these are the things we will follow to letters when the time comes, so there is no need to be panic right now.”
His counterpart at the PDP, Babatunde Mohammed said, “the beautiful thing about the PDP is that democratic principles are never compromised. We always want the will of the majority to come to play. All our party executives and the leaders of the party stand for this. So this the main reason the people of the state should vote us back to power when the time comes in the year 2027.”
For Professor Ali Ahmad, a PDP top notcher ,a legal practitioner, the former Speaker of the state House of Assembly, an ex House of Representatives member from Kwara Central, and arguably one of the most qualified candidates for the plum job, “I will stand by the principles under the party supremacy. I respect the will of my party and the entire citizens of our dear state. Whatever will move us forward and will turn out state into a model for all have my support”.
Engineer Olabanji, touted as a grassroot mobiliser of the ruling APC, especially in Irepodun, Isin and Ifelodun Local Government Areas of the state, canvassed more federal appointments for more Kwarans to bolster the socio, political and economic developments of the state.
He noted; “only one person will be Governor at a time. But more people can be empowered in the state via plum federal government appointments. These are the areas we should concentrate on for now. Of course, we should also give room for healthy competitions for the position of the Governorship rather than playing up unnecessary sentiments.”
One area considers “sacred” in the choice of Governorship candidate for Kwara is the alleged interest of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu. If this is joined to the options already on ground, there will be a longer rope for the constituents to pull in the year 2027.
Ends.