As permutations heighten in Kwara State over who succeeds Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq in 2027, ODUN EDWARD writes that the election might be a fierce contest between proponents of rotational system and apologists of godfatherism in the state.
The choice of who emerges the next governor of Kwara State may be a titanic battle between the proponents of rotational system and apologists of godfatherism in the state.
Since the restoration of democracy in the country barely 26 years ago, Kwara North Senatorial District has not produced a governor as the plum seat has so far rotated between the South and Central Senatorial Districts.
The Guardian gathered from reliable sources in Ilorin that the incumbent, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq, would want his successor to emerge from Kwara North, comprising Edu, Kiama, Patigi, Moro and Baruten local councils of the state.
It was further gathered that two factors could be responsible for this – the need to balance the power equation in the state and craving for a successor who would be loyal to him.
However, whomever he decides to support, he would have to contend with those who would view him as trying to play the godfather, which the people wanted to stop by voting him to office in 2019.
Akogun Iyiola Oyedepo, a pivotal figure of the ‘O’toge’ political movement that swept off the age-long political structure of the late Olusola Saraki from the political scene in the state in 2019, argued that political godfatherism in the state had not allowed successive governments since 1999 to properly churn out dividends of democracy to the people.
According to Oyedepo, who is a legal practitioner and an author, until godfatherism is eradicated from the state’s political system, qualified candidates who understand the political exigencies of the state would not be allowed to hold vital political offices, especially the position of governor.
“We noticed that the political intervention usually starts at the level of shadow election where a particular foreign based candidate would be imposed on the people by the so-called powers that be,” he noted.
Oyedepo, while craving for the best successor irrespective of where he or she hails from within the state, said: “Some of us are watching the political developments in Kwara with very keen interest. But nobody can say precisely for now where the next governor will come from. But as a person, I don’t believe that a single senatorial district can produce the next governor without the collaboration of at least one other district.
“This I had studied and known since 1999. Therefore, it will be a ruse to assume that a section has an overwhelming population to the exclusion of others. Under such an assumption, people often forget that in most cases, non-natives are even more in population than the so-called indigenous people.”
Oyedepo cautioned against the use of the phrase, “it is our turn” when it’s time to officially campaign for the position.
He said there was no meeting by the constituents to decide who should be the candidate of their senatorial district, alleging that the choices had always been that of the political godfathers”, who often use such candidates after their electoral victories for egocentric purposes.
He added: “They will now start telling the voters from their district that they should cast their votes for their kinsman rather than someone outside their district, even where such a kinsman appears to be a weaker candidate.”
“We don’t have a convention or any agreement for rotation of the governorship seat in Kwara State. That’s why no candidate should be imposed on anyone as the candidate of a particular district. Other people from the other districts will simultaneously come out to contest for the sole slot as well. But at the end only one candidate will pick the ticket. It will just be a mere argument that it should be the turn of Kwara North in the year 2027.
“If he is produced by any godfather, he will not be the candidate of the district but that of the godfather. He will be there to protect the interest of his godfather and not that of the people. What should be our priority is to look for a competent and knowledgeable person to help fix the state along the lines of its needs. We should jettison the usual way it was done in the past. We need to move forward as a state.”
Alhaji AbdulKareem Olola-Kasum, an Ilorin based social critic, also said that godfatherism remains “imposition of candidates on the overwhelming majority in a quasi-democracy being touted as a full blown democracy.”
For Opeyemi Olabanji, a staunch member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) from Ijan-Otun in Irepodun Local Council of the state, candidates of the godfathers who win elections don’t usually deliver selfless services to the people.
He added: “They would first destroy the existing political structures and give the people structural edifices in place of construction of access roads to open up agrarian settlements of the state for seamless movements of farm produce from villages to towns.
“We want people who will bring back an effective railway system that will link up our state with neighbouring states for free flow of goods and services. I believe that these developments will guide our amiable governor in lending his support to the right successor.”
Olabanji, who mobilises for the ruling APC, especially in Irepodun, Isin and Ifelodun local councils of the state, canvassed seeking for more federal appointments for the people of the state for now instead of focusing on the zone that would produce the next governor.
He noted: “Only one person will be governor at a time. But more people can be empowered in the state via plum federal appointments. These are the areas we should concentrate on for now. Of course, we should also give room for healthy competitions for the governorship rather than playing up unnecessary sentiments. ”
Until his demise a few days ago, Chief Stephen Wole Oke, an APC chieftain from Moro Local Council, was one of the leading figures of the proponents of the need for the emergence of the next governor from Kwara North senatorial district. He told The Guardian in an exclusive interview while alive that only an enemy of democracy would not want the successor of AbdulRazaq to come from Kwara North .
“We remain the only senatorial district that had never produced the governor of the state under this republic,” he noted.
To Saka Salawu from Shao in Moro Local Council of the state, the people of Kwara North would tenaciously follow the steps canvassed by Oke to ensure the sustainability of their agitation in the 2027 elections.
Saka, a chieftain of the APC, said: “One of the fastest ways to get more infrastructure in our democracy is to vote a candidate from your area to power. Among the three senatorial districts in Kwara today, it remains a fact that we are the least developed. Our road network is the worst. Water supply and electricity distribution are abysmally low. We are like a land forsaken among the others. There is nothing wrong if others ponder on these factors and cede the governorship to us this time around.”
As the argument between those clamouring for power shift to Kwara North and those agitating for merit continue, the state APC Chairman, Prince Sunday Fagbemi, cautioned against overheating the polity with “unnecessary permutations.”
“What we need is patience and maturity to first ensure that the incumbent succeeds in office before thinking of a successor. There are democratic norms in place for producing successors and these are the things we will follow to the letter when the time comes. So, there is no need to panic right now.”
His counterpart in the PDP, Babatunde Mohammed, also said: “The beautiful thing about the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is that democratic principles are never compromised. We always want the will of the majority to come to play. All our party executives and the leaders of the party stand for this. So, this is the main reason the people of the state should vote us back to power when the time comes in the year 2027.”
Nevertheless, Kwara Central still holds the ace as per who becomes the next governor of the state. The current controllers of the levers of power in the state – Governor AbdulRasaq and former President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, are both from the zone. They call the shots in the ruling APC and opposition PDP respectively.
If the political equation in the state remains unchanged till 2027, the next governor of the state would surely come from either of the two parties, whose candidates would most likely emerge through the influence of AbdulRasaq and Saraki. Will both of them look towards Kwara North? Time will tell.
