INDICATIONS that next year’s general election in Kwara State will be quite interesting have started to emerge judging from recent political developments in and around the state. One factor that will make it interesting is the fact that the elections will be contested in reality between only two political parties, among the many political parties in the state. Only the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) are visibly present in the state and holding political activities as well as also being recognised by the police command the invitation and presence of the parties’ leadership at a recent stakeholders meeting called by the state police command ahead of the 2015 polls is considered.

The ruling APC gears up to consolidate its dominance on the political landscape in the state, with its control of 16 local government council areas, 22; out of 24 members of the state House of Assembly; all members of the House of Representatives in the state and all but one senator from the state, PDP, which is now the opposition party, says it is set to cause an upset in the power configuration in the state. Indeed, when a delegation of PDP leaders from the state, led by Hajia Bola Shagaya, paid a thank you visit to President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja recently, following his attendance in Ilorin to attend a political rally. The President vowed that PDP would win all elected positions that had been seized by the Senator Bukola Saraki-led APC in the state, saying that both parties would test do a battle of might in 2015. The president, during the meeting, further stated that, despite political moves by some people in the state to discourage the people from attending the rally, they still turned out en masse to participate in the PDP rally.

“In 2015, we will know who owns Kwara. And if God gives us the opportunity, which I believe, probably we will even test our strength before 2015. All stolen mandates will return to PDP. So, let us continue to encourage you and we will continue to work together with your leaders, supporters and make sure that not only will we win the election at the national level, we will also win at the state level.

“We must take over the state structures of the party, the governor and the state Assembly. We must take all, because it is easier to reach the grass roots through the states than the centre because the country is so big that by the time we distribute positions, you will not be noticed. But at the state level, we can touch more people. So, any state we are unable to win, members of the party in that state will continue to live like orphans. So, definitely, we are taking Kwara. So, I am quite pleased with what you have done today,” Jonathan said.

However, in a swift reaction to the statement by the President, the APC issued a statement titled, “Forget Kwara Come 2015 and Face Governance.” The statement, signed by the APC Interim Publicity Secretary in the state, Alhaji Sulyman Buhari, said the perpetual claims on the political future of Kwara State by President  Jonathan should be brushed-off by Nigerians.

“The frustration of the PDP and its leaders is understandable, after the desertion of the party by the people of Kwara.

But the style of mis-informing Nigerians by Mr President is condemnable. President Jonathan has forgotten some basic facts of history that PDP has been in existence since 1999, at the federal level but there was no PDP in Kwara until 2003, when the Sarakis adopted the party.

“Kwarans supported and joined en masse, the PDP due to the love for the Sarakis. Mr President is being deceived, even his supporters in Kwara are known to be saying it around town that they know President Jonathan can’t win election in Kwara.

“Meanwhile, there is no stolen mandate in Kwara. The mandate was given to Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed administration by Kwarans, who built and renovated additional five general hospitals recently. The Community Health Insurance Scheme to boost healthcare delivery in the state has been expanded to cover 600,000 Kwarans; stories of 5,400 youths have changed from unemployment to empowerment through the first phase of the Quick Win programme the APC-led state government started few days ago and many more. Any person that tagged a representing mandate like the mandate given to Governor Ahmed a stolen mandate is either being mischievous or too inept to understand the mandate.

“It is childish for PDP to think Kwarans will trade the peace and sustainable development presently enjoyed in the state for bad leadership, corrupt practices and mismanagement, which is the hallmark of PDP. Mr President is still in the euphoria of the paid non-Kwarans he addressed in Ilorin but it remains a mirage how a party without leadership and structure, with no councillor in any of the 193 wards, with no chairman in any of the 16 Local governments and just two members out of 24 members in the House of Assembly, will win any election in Kwara State.

“However, these nocturnal politicians in the PDP can continue to deceive Mr. President with their paper-weight in the state to bargain for money or positions, that is PDP’s headache. But we state that the election-winning machinery as presently formulated in the APC today is capable of winning all elections in Kwara State if elections are held today,” the statement said.