Date: 2014-07-23

Governorship aspirants on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara State are already crossing their T’s and dotting their ‘I’s to win the party’s guber ticket for 2015.

Though the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is yet to lift ban on campaigns, politicians across the country have been jumping the gun, erecting and mounting billboards and pasting posters to present themselves to the electorates.

Without mincing words,  2015 is a year many people are keenly interested and looking forward to not only for the presidential election but the governorship elections taking place nationwide except in few states like Ekiti, Osun, Edo, Ondo and Adamawa.

With the formation of APC, the political calculations in some states of the federation have been altered. Prominent among such states is Kwara , which used to be governed by the PDP until October, last year when the then leadership of the party in the state defected to the APC in a move that jolted many observers who hitherto saw the wooing of Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed and former Governor Bukola Saraki by the APC as a mere jamboree which would not yield any meaningful outcome.

But to the chagrin of analysts and watchers of events in the state, Ahmed and his political godfather, Saraki, together with some of their supporters defected to APC, leaving the PDP leaderless before some stakeholders in the party teamed up to take charge of affairs of the party.

Consequently, a new PDP executive led by Chief Iyiola Oyedepo was formed with the various stakeholders, most of whom had previously worked with Saraki, playing one role or the other in the emergence of the present executive all in a bid to control the party and oil their 2015 ambition.

With the 2015 governorship election drawing nearer, most of the stakeholders have commenced overt and covert campaigns, itching to secure the governorship ticket of the PDP; the party they believe is well-positioned to defeat the incumbent government.

To the PDP aspirants, the defection of Saraki has thrown the race open in the party unlike when the former governor and Ahmed were in PDP and had to read their lips before throwing their hats into the ring.

As at last count, over 10 governorship aspirants emerged from the three Senatorial districts of Kwara Central, North and South jostling for the ticket. While some have declared, others are still bidding their time.

The aspirants include: Mr. Dele Belgore, Professor Shuaib Abdulraheem, Senator Gbemisola Rukayyat Saraki, Alhaji Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq, Alhaji Akeem Lawal all in the central. From Kwara South/Igbomina axis are Senator Simeon Ajibola, Senator Sulaiman Makanjuola Ajadi, Mr. Ben Duntoye, Engr. Sunday Babalola, Chief John Dara while Kwara North has the likes of Alhaji Bio Ibrahim, Senator Mohammed Haliru,  and Alhaji Shuaib Yaman Abdullahi.

With the primaries slated for October fast approaching, it is expected that more aspirants would emerge in the race which is viewed as litmus test for the cohesiveness of PDP in the state.

Expectedly, out of these aspirants, there are those who are using the aspiration to soften ground for themselves having known that the odds may not favour them in the primary election, especially against the backdrop of insinuations that the governorship ticket has been ceded to Kwara Central following the emergence of a PDP chairman from Kwara South axis. However, the Kwara North senatorial district which last ruled the state from January 1992 to November 1993 when Senator Shaaba Lafiagi was governor could as well make case for the governorship ticket.

In Kwara Central/Ilorin emirate extraction which has the largest voting population, Belgore who was governorship candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) is no doubt a formidable candidate who may want to leverage on his relative success in the last election to make case for himself. He’s someone who has his eyes firmly on the number one seat fuelling insinuations that he actually left the APC knowing fully well that securing the ticket there may be a mission impossible.  It is however unclear if the ticket would be conceded to him despite his popularity especially with Professor Abdulraheem, the chairman of Federal Character Commission (FCC) who also contested in the last election with the incumbent governor for the PDP ticket eyeing the seat.

Gbemisola no doubt is one candidate who enjoys wide support and popularity across the 16 local government areas of the state. But her only albatross remains her gender as people may not want to vote for a female governor in a conservative environment like Ilorin or Kwara, but it is likely for the former Senator to support either Professor Abdulraheem or Belgore for the race. Sources close to her say she might as well decide to challenge her brother, Bukola, for the Kwara Central senatorial election. Also, Abdulrazak who was governorship candidate of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), according to sources, is not that committed to the governorship project this time around.

Akeem Lawal, son of former governor, Mohammed Lawal who has once confirmed his lack of interest in politics is considered a greenhorn among the aspirants, who thought he could rally his father’s supporters and followers for the governorship project.

But should the position be zoned to the north as being agitated in some quarters, former Speaker Bio Ibrahim and a Kaduna-based businessman, Shuaib Abdullahi who also slugged it out with Saraki in 2003 would be the major contenders for the PDP ticket. Ibrahim who is currently the Chairman of Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and one-time minister of sports and transport, contested the ticket in 2011 but was edged out of the race. He is reportedly pained that he did not get the ticket, thereby pitching him against Bukola then before the latter’s defection to APC. But whether he can garner enough muscle to prosecute the project is left to be seen.

With the election of Governor Ahmed in 2011, many of his kinsmen in Kwara South felt a sigh of relief that the cry of marginalisation has been laid to rest with their son fielded as then PDP candidate. However, the emergence of Senator Ajibola currently representing Kwara South in the senate, his predecessor and presidential adviser on National Assembly matters, Senator Ajadi, among other aspirants that have indicated interest from Kwara South has further tightened the race for the party’s lone ticket. Ajibola who is presently spending his third term in the Senate is the only federal legislator  in Kwara that refused to follow Saraki to APC.

He and several others who remained in PDP after Saraki’s exit became leaders of the party in their various groups.

Senator Ajadi who hails from Babanloma in Ifelodun Local Government is seen as a grassroots politician who commands the respect of his people. He had also stated boisterously that he was instrumental to the success of Ahmed in 2011.

Engr. Sunday Babalola, a petrochemical engineer, is another politician who has indicated interest in becoming governor of the state in 2011 through the platform of the PDP. He was however prevailed to step down for Ahmed and he is now set to take a shot again under the PDP. His associates say he is now more than ever serious with the governorship project.

With the avalanche of interests in the party’s ticket, the party’s major challenge is its ability to manage all these interests without leaving wounds in the minds of party members which would now affect its fortunes. Observers suggest that mechanism should be put in place to ensure the emergence of an acceptable candidate.

Speaking with our correspondent, the PDP chairman Oyedepo assured that there would be no imposition of candidates in all elective positions as all the aspirants would emerge through a democratic process. As the clock ticks and the election approaches, it would become clearer where the pendulum would eventually swing.