Ahead of the 2023 general elections, a group has called for the zoning of governorship seat to Kwara North senatorial district.
The group, Kwara North Leaders Forum, declared that they would use all possible means to ensure that an indigene of the zone becomes the governor of the state in 2023.
The leaders made their position known in a communique issued at the end of a meeting in Ilorin and made available to the Newsmen on Tuesday.
The communique was signed by 77 leaders drawn from the five local government areas of Kwara north, comprising Edu, Moro, Patigi, Baruten and Kaiama.
“Kwara Northerners re-emphasised their sole objective for a Kwara Northerner to contest and emerge as the Governor of Kwara State in year 2023.
“The Forum therefore urged all the people of the zone to key into this sole objective and note the fact that ‘Power is Never Served A-La-Cart’, hence the people should rise up to the challenge and do everything possible and legal to clinch the governorship seat of the State in the year 2023,” the communique read in part.
It stated that people of Kwara North shall continue to interact and collaborate with well-meaning groups and people of the other two senatorial zones of the state to negotiate the position.
The communique dissociated the entire people of the zone from the recent press interview granted by Sen. Umar Sadiq (APC-Kwara North) for a second term for incumbent Gov. Abdulfatah AbdulRazaq.
According to the leaders, the contents of the interview were the senator’s personal opinion which were grossly anti-Kwara North and therefore against the interest of the people of the zone.
“The meeting re-emphasised the resolve of the Kwara North Senatorial Zone to fully support any party that fields a Kwara Northerner as it’s Gubernatorial Candidate in the 2023 General Elections,” It added.
The communique criticised the 2021 budget of the state as not only arithmetically unbalanced but also politically unfair to the Kwara North senatorial zone.
It called for a review of the fiscal policy to correct the imbalance and lopsidedness against their area with immediate effect.
The communique kicked against the way and manner the State House Assembly approved the N35 billion bond.
“The process that cumulated into the approval by the Kwara State House of Assembly for the N35 billion bond is fraught with irregularities, self-serving and did not meet with the regulatory requirements of raising such bonds as required by the Debt Management Office of Nigeria.
“The bond should therefore be discountenanced with to save Kwara State from future financial burden that shall lead to its bankruptcy and other financial embarrassments,” the communique added.
The communique noted that the Agricultural Development Plan recently put in place by the Kwara State Government was shrouded in secrecy in terms of cost and location of projects.
It said the development plan was not linked to the state’s 2021 budget nor the Medium Term Expenditure Framework of the state.
The communique therefore called for its withdrawal and redesign with the input of the general public and the farming communities in the state.
It also condemned the recent appointment of the Registrar and Chief Executive Officer of IVTEC, Ajasse-Ipo, describing the process as unethical, compromised and therefore unacceptable as the candidate that came last (4th position) in the interview process was appointed.
“The people of Kwara North Senatorial Zone remain aggrieved regarding the appointment of the current Vice Chancellor of Kwara State University and still expecting the Kwara State Government to retrace its steps and appoint Prof. Saka Mahmud, who came top in the interview exercise, as the VC of the university.
“A building to be named ‘Kwara North House’ is to be established in Ilorin as a symbol and rallying point for the desired unity and emancipation of the diverse peoples of Kwara North Senatorial Zone,” it added.