Stakeholders seek gov slot for Kwara North, Tinubu’s re-election
By Dele Moses
Stakeholders in Kwara North Senatorial District and also within the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state have advocated the ceding of the governorship slot of the state to the district in 2027.
They made the call as they also expressed support for the re-election of President Bola Tinubu for a second term of office in next year’s general election.
The stakeholders made their positions known at a mega rally organised for the two purposes in Ilorin which was attended by members of the APC across the five local government areas in the district and some other stakeholders.
They praised Tinubu’s performance in the last three years and said he deserved to be re-elected.
The stakeholders clamoured that 2027 should be the turn of the north district to produce the governor of the state and pleaded that other districts should concede the slot to the area.
They said that in the political history of the state the only time the district produced the governor was between 1992-1993 during the aborted third republic when Mohammed Shaaba Lafiagi was the governor.
They said since the begining of the present democratic dispensation in 1999 while the south district had produced a governor who ruled for eight years and central producing three governors who by 2027 would have ruled for 20 years, the north has not produced any.
One of the APC stakeholders who spoke at the event, Issa Bio Ibrahim, a former minister of transportation assured that the state would vote for Tinubu.
He however urged that the north district in the state should be supported by other districts in its bid to produce the next governor of the state.
Another APC stakeholder, Mumin Katibi, a former commissioner for information in the state, highlighted how the district has been supporting the APC in governorship elections since 2015.
He said that the district has always been giving the party second highest number of votes after the central district.
Speaking on behalf of the traditional rulers from the district, the Emir of Lafiagi, Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Kudu, said the district having not produced a governor since commencement of the present dispensation ought to be considered for the post by the next election in the interest of justice and fairness.
He said the traditional rulers in the zone are meeting with their colleagues in the southern district on the matter and that the southern traditional rulers have shown understanding with them on why they are making the demand.
He said they would also meet with the Emir of Ilorin in the central district on the matter with the hope that their case would receive sympathy from the monarch.
The Emir noted that the district still voted APC with a governorship candidate from the central district in 2023 when a politician from the zone was the candidate of another party.
He said the district did that because the APC candidate then was incumbent governor who was seeking re-election and who had done a lot in the development of the district in his first term.
He urged that the APC should in the next election consider its governorship ticket in favour of the district.
The monarch enjoined all stakeholders who will be taking positions on where the next governor should come from to “be on the side of justice, brotherliness and fairness.”
Governorship aspirants within the APC from the district were among many other stakeholders who attended the rally.
The aspirants include Sodiq Suleiman, the incumbent senator representing the district, Yakubu Danladi, the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Tajudeen Audi, Omar Bio.
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