The weather was friendly as the sun shone brightly out of the azure sky. The event was a festive one for the people of Kwara State who rolled out the drums to welcome one of the citizens who was appointed as a minister of the Federal Republic.

Nature remained clement as if in agreement with the joyous event. Many, including the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stalwarts, political associates, family members, loyalists, friends and well-wishers turned out in their numbers to be part of the reception in honour of Dr Suleiman Abubakar to celebrate his recent appointment as Minister of National Planning in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.

That day, human and vehicular movements to and from Arca Santa Event Centre, along Ajase-Ipo Road venue of the reception was disrupted. The reception was the first, since the minister, a native of the state, was appointed over a month ago by President Goodluck Jonathan.

It was a demonstration of the love, unity and team work by the members of the minister's family and party stalwarts for the PDP.

Speaker after speaker urged members of the PDP to work as a team to ensure the party's victory in the 2015 general elections in the state.

The 2011 governorship candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Dele Belgore now a chieftain of the PDP, urged his supporters to work towards the success of the party ahead of 2015.

Belgore also advised them to resist the temptation by the opposition party to lure them into the All Progressives Congress (APC), saying it does not pay to be in opposition.

He said: "I have been in opposition in the past and had realised that it does not pay to be in the opposition." He urged members of the party to remain united.

In a remark, Abuja-based businesswoman and a chieftain of the party in the state, Hajia Muinat Shagaya admonished residents of Kwara State to key into the mainstream politics of the ruling PDP so as to enjoy the benefits of democracy.

Shagaya, a major financier of the PDP said her experience as a businesswoman had shown that it does not pay to be in opposition against the ruling party.

She also urged them to demonstrate the spirit of sportsmanship by accepting whoever emerges as the party's standard bearer in the 2015 governorship election.

Former Minister of Transport, Bio Ibrahim who spoke on behalf of representatives of Kwara North, described Dr Abubakar as the current leader of the party in the state in the absence of a PDP governor, urging him "to be fair and just to us all.

In his comment, Chairman, Federal Character Commission (FCC), Prof. Shuaib Oba-Abdulraheem said the party will take over Government House, Kwara in 2015. He said there were feelers that some top government officials are already removing their personal effects from the Government House.

Also at the event, Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on National Assembly Matters, Senator Suleiman M. Ajadi said with the minister's appointment, the state has started heaving a sigh of relief from neglect and bondage.

Senator Ajadi, who is from Kwara South, however, said the minister should not rejoice yet until the party takes over Kwara Government House come 2015.

Addressing PDP supporters at the reception, Dr Abubakar said the PDP has a winning team that will rescue Kwara from APC in the 2015 general elections. The Political Science lecturer at the University of Abuja said the team is unbeatable because of the pedigree of stakeholders that constituted it.

He added: "Who can defeat this team, a team made up of eight ex-senators, four ex-ministers, two former deputy governors, three or four former Speakers of Kwara State House of Assembly, two ex- PDP chairmen and former commissioners?

"If we have this calibre of people, I don’t see who can defeat this family" The minister said the process of his emergence as the new Minister of National Planning had shown that "politics in Kwara is no longer a one-man show."

He said 11 stakeholders sat down to rectify his nomination as a minister, a development which he said was sharp departure from the practice in the state in the last 45 years where only one person decides who gets what.

He also assured the party supporters that the mandate of the people in the hands of members of the opposition will be reclaimed.