With the results of the 2023 general elections and the performance of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State, the state’s political landscape appears to be taking a new look gradually.
After the ‘O to ge’ onslaught, which had wrestled power from the Chief Olusola Saraki dynasty that held onto the political hegemony in the state for long, the APC consolidated the conquest in the last elections by roundly defeating whatever remained of the Saraki political stub in addition to all other political parties and/or opposition.
In spite of the internal strives within the Kwara State chapter of APC before the elections. It went ahead to win majority seats in the National and State Assembly polls.
Few months to the general elections, some aggrieved members of the APC defected to other parties where majority of them emerged as candidates for the governorship and National Assembly elections. With such development, pundits had predicted doomsday for the ruling party due to the fragmentation of its membership.
Consequently, the PDP, led by former President of the Senate, Dr. Bukola Saraki, was tipped to benefit from the infighting within the APC and possibly end up with some electoral victories, considering the quality of candidates the opposition party put forward for the polls. The election was presumed to be a two-horse race between the two major parties, APC and PDP.
However, contrary to their expectations, the incumbent governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, was not only re-elected, the ruling party also won the presidential election as well as majority seats in both the National and the State House of Assembly.
The governor won in all the 16 local councils. The results were almost replicates of the polls results during the presidential, National Assembly and State Assembly elections across the state.
Following the victory of Governor AbdulRazaq, the PDP Chairman in the state, Babatunde Mohammed, was speechless while the party’s spokesman, Prince Tunji Morounfoye, refused to grant any press interview. In similar vein, the PDP governorship candidate, Yaman Shuaib Abdullahi, was said to have told some of his allies that he would be returning to one of the states in the Northern part of the country to revive his business.
The PDP camp in Kwara simply went quiet after the elections. Rather than react to the outcome of the elections, Saraki has embarked on his usual public activities. Only a few days ago, he announced some ‘Ramadan’ packages for Islamic leaders in the state. The bulk of the gifts, according to sources, went to ‘mallams’ in Ilorin, his country home.
One of the factors that affected the Saraki political dynasty is the fact that the former Senate President allegedly over-concentrated on the Senate, especially while battling for the validation of his seat and defending himself against allegations of fraud and false declaration of asset before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT).
According to one of his aides, Suleiman Yusuff, “Saraki entrusted his political activities into the hands of some of his followers, who eventually failed him. Some would not deliver his messages to his constituents but would give a false feedback to him. At this level, many potential voters felt abandoned and this was what the ‘O To Ge’ movement capitalised on to endear themselves to the electorate. By the time our leader and a few others would realise the damages, it was too late for any meaningful intervention. But very soon, the ‘O To Ge’ people, having realised their own errors too, will come back home for a rebuilding of the state with the leader (Saraki). Many of them are lamenting under the present government in the state.”
But the state Chairman of the APC, Sunday Fagbemi had a different view: “O To Ge, was a response to an agelong misrule of our state by a few plutocrats. They left the state under-developed and turned the people into beggars despite the huge human and natural resources in it. The people decided to hold their destinies in their hands and make the state a true democratic one rather than a government by the few.”
”This is what is called democracy and the people are now enjoying it. It is not a game of one man but the government of the majority.”
Already, the governor had embarked on private visits to some of the APC chieftains, who fell out with him shortly before the elections. These include Senator Suleiman Makanjuola Ajadi, Chief Iyiola Oyedepo and Professor Shuaib Oba AbdulRaheem.
The peaceful gesture by the governor, according to ‘Jagunmolu’ of ‘Shao’ in Moro Local Council Area, Chief Stephen Oluwole Oke, is that “this will show the whole world that we are one big family in Kwara APC. Besides, many others will now believe what we had told them before that the Governor is an amiable leader and a peace-loving democrat.”
Expectedly, some PDP chieftains have decamped to the ruling APC after the elections. Most prominent among them is Wahab Oladimeji Issa, who lost the House of Representatives seat in Ilorin Federal Constituency to APC’s Yinka Aluko.
It is being speculated that the former Senate President, Saraki, may also decamp to the APC to stage a comeback into the state’s politics. But Alhaji Oba AbdulWahab, a former chief press secretary to erstwhile Governor, Abdulfattah Ahmed, debunked the claim, saying he was unaware of such move.
In the same vein, former Special Adviser (Communications) to Saraki when he was Kwara state Governor, Akin Fatigun said: “Where did you get this information from? You mean our leader is going back to the APC? Are you breaking the news to me or it should have come from me? It is strange. Please, I am not aware of it.”
Oke said anyone coming into the party must recognise the Governor as the leader of the party in the state, adding, “anything short of this will not be acceptable. We truly want more members because in a working democracy like ours, the maxim, ‘the more, the merrier’ is applicable.”
AbdulRazak’s foray into Kwaran politics and his rising profile on a daily basis may be an albatross to the resurgence of Saraki’s political dynasty. Besides, with the emergence of some younger plutocrats in the state polity, such as Mallam Solihu Mustapha, the ‘Turaki’ of Ilorin, Mohammed Gobir, among others, may make it a tall dream for a continued dominance of the scene by any man. This, according to analysts, is because the younger and rich politicians also doll out monies to artisans, widows, the aged, terribly sick persons, and communities in need of social amenities, among others.
But a political analyst in Ilorin, AbdulWasiu Ishowo seems to be giving Saraki a leeway. According to him, “Saraki should make himself a rallying point for all others. He should draw them closer, listen to their views and supply the needed direction to them. He remains the most experienced politician in the state.
“Besides, he had occupied the seat none of them had ever occupied before or even after him, (Senate Presidency). If he can do this, he will be relevant again politically.”
One stroke that could nail the political coffin of the opposition in Kwara is the preparedness of the state Governor to conduct local council elections across the state. Having measured the political pulse of the people in the last general elections, AbdulRazak feels it is the most auspicious time to conduct the polls. He is expected to use the local council election to entrench his political philosophy within the rank of the rural populace.
Already the State House of Assembly has confirmed the appointments of nominees for positions of Chairman and Members of Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission (KWSIEC) in the State. This is a precursor to the organisation of the local council areas (LGAs) elections across the existing 16 LGAs in the state.
The nominees confirmed by the House include Muhammad Baba-Okanla as Chairman, while Frederic Sabi Abel, Hassan Taiye Salami, Gbedeyan Gbadura Yomi, Ndama Al-Hassan, Saka Baliqees Kehinde, and Abdullahi Janat Amdat, would serve as members of Commission.
Responding to questions from lawmakers, Chairman of the Commission, Baba-Okanla promised to be impartial in the conduct of the Council polls.
Baba-Okanla reaffirmed the resolve of the electoral umpire to provide level playing field for participating political parties before, during and after the elections.
Also speaking, a member of the Commission, Taiye-Salami charged the political class to always imbibe the spirit of sportsmanship to ensure hitch-free polls. Taiye-Salami assured the lawmakers of interfacing with credible Civil Society Organisations and other relevant stakeholders to engender a transparent electoral process.
The governor had cleared the air on the reasons for the seeming delay in the conduct of the local council polls. In a recent statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Rafiu Ajakaye, he noted that, “having now cleared all legal logjams on its way, the process for the conduct of the local council election has begun.
“This begins with the immediate constitution of the KWSIEC board once the nominees have been confirmed by the parliament. This will be followed earnestly by other steps already stipulated in the law, including notice of election.”
It would be recalled that the opposition political parties in the state had sharply criticised and used the failure of the ruling APC in the state to conduct local council elections against the government in the pre-electioneering campaign.
The government had also argued that since the matter was in court, it could not do otherwise than wait till the case was dispensed with by the court, to clear the way for the exercise.
With AbdulRazak firmly in the saddle, his continued good performance in office over the next four years, analysts believe, would not only consolidate the new order in the state’s politics but would determine the governor’s place in the state’s next political dispensation.
