Date: 2015-04-10

Are we back in 2007 in Kwara State?. God willing, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed will be re-elected on Saturday, 11th April. What is of some concern, however, is the contribution of his kinsmen from Kwara South Senatorial district to his victory.

In 2007, the then Governor Bukola Saraki (CON)’s re-re-election was, for discernible Kwarans, certain but a plethora of candidates from Kwara South challenging the incumbent governor raised the stakes in the south.

On the gubernatorial ballot then were: Senator Makanjuola Ajadi of the defunct Action Congress (AC), Alh. Khaleel Bolaji (All Nigerian People’s Party, ANPP) and Col. Theophilous Bamigboye (rtd), the Accord Party (AP). It was battle royale in the South.
The Saraki Administration had been so even-handed. The deputy governor (Chief Joel Ogundeji) was from Kwara South, the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) Alh. Salman Adelodun Ibrahim, was from the South. Some high-profile Commissioners were also from Kwara South including the commissioner for Finance (Alh. Abdulfatah, now our governor) and my humble self as Commissioner for Education.

But despite entreaties by well-meaning people from Kwara South, the ruling party, PDP, lost marginally in Offa and Irepodun and the South did not give sufficient votes to earn it influence at the federal and state levels in the post-2007 administration. If Kwara South had rewarded Governor Saraki’s fidelity to it, it we could only have climbed higher in the ladder of political influence in the state.

Here we go again! Yes, we have three Kwara South candidates on the governorship ballot on Saturday: Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed aka Maigida (All Progressives Congress, APC), Senator Simon Sule Ajibola (Peoples Democratic Party, PDP) and Mr. Mike Omotosho (Labour Party). But all sensible analysts know that Senator Ajibola’s candidacy is too weak to dislodge the incumbent governor and the religious card he is playing in the South can only have a grave backlash in the central and the North. Mr. Mike Omotosho, for all practical purposes, is just on an adventure of dubious outcome.

Let us be realistic, the results of the last presidential election have shown clearly the political direction of Kwara State. North voted 72 percent, Central 70 percent and South 58 percent. On Saturday, Kwara Central and Kwara North votes alone will make Governor Ahmed’s re-election predictable. Maigida only needs 25 percent from the seven local governments in Kwara South to satisfy constitutional requirement. So, Kwara South votes can only add to the victory margin not the victory’s determinant.
Kwara South is in need of re-strategizing; Appointments and patronages are distributed along voting lines. What you contribute electorally is what you get in rewards.

Governor Ahmed is seeking re-election on the records of his sterling performance in office. Kwara South has had its fair share of political appointments and patronage in the State. In the Maigida’s administration, the South is well-represented in the cabinet. Infact, from Ekiti Local Government alone, there are four cabinet members (Deputy Chief of Staff, Honourable Commissioner and two Special Advisers) and three in Irepodun (Honourable Commissioner for Finance and two Special Advisers with high-profile portfolios (Labour and Communication Strategy).

Considering the peculiar infrastructural neglect of the past, Maigida has done well in project execution in Kwara South. He has completed and initiated not fewer than 32 asphalt road projects in the south in three years; three of his Adminisration’s five up-graded ultra-modern general hospitals are located in the south (Offa, Share and Omuaran). The Governor has also established a school of Nursing in Oke-Ode, Ifelodun Local Government Area while the flagship of his projects in Kwara State, the international vocational centre is located in the heartland of the South, Ajassepo, Irepodun LGA

So, Kwara South as Battle Ground on Saturday? Not again, please. Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed is a man of destiny. Let the South use its votes for APC to negotiate for its dues. Maigida’s re-election will be sweeter with Kwara South’s massive votes.