While the silence of Senator Bukola Saraki, the undisputed political leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC family in Kwara State lasted, many had insinuated that Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed was in jeopardy.

It was assumed in some quarters that the governor would not be endorsed for a second term perhaps in line with an alleged one term agreement that was supposedly projected before 2011.

Other more mischievous elements had alluded to the unwillingness of Senator Saraki to allow another governor of the state serve for two terms, reason being that Senator Saraki is the only one of the five previous civilian governors to have served for two terms.

The predecessors, Adamu Attah, Cornelius Adebayo, Shaaba Lafiagi and Mohammed Lawal all served for one term before the advent of Bukola Saraki who broke the jinx to serve for a second term.

Given that historical attainment, there were insinuations that Bukola who has now climbed to become the undisputed political champion of the state would truncate a second term for Governor Ahmed in order to protect his own legacy in history.

Bukola last month, however, disappointed such permutations when he projected Ahmed as his candidate and the candidate of his political family for the 2015 governorship elections.

The endorsement inevitably set the stage for other political calculations in the state. For the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP which is now in opposition, it gave it a sort of liberty in the choice of a running mate.

With Governor Ahmed from the south being presented as the likely candidate of the ruling APC, the options of the PDP have been broadened as the party has the liberty of choosing whosoever it considers could give the APC the greatest pains in the forthcoming election.

Had Ahmed been denied the APC ticket and the candidate chosen from Kwara Central which has the highest population figure in the state, the PDP would have been compelled to choose its candidate from Central, but with the APC now projecting the governor as its presumptive nominee the options have been broadened for the PDP.

Remarkably, the prospects for the PDP are increasingly being entangled by the crisis in the party given allegations of plots by some to undermine the results of the recent ward congresses.

However, Ahmed still has a battle in his hands given the desperation of the PDP to win the election. Few weeks ago, two serving governors alongside leading officials of the Federal Government brainstormed in Abuja on how to streamline the long list of aspirants with the prospect of presenting a very formidable candidate to challenge the APC.

That meeting, however, ended in a deadlock and following that, there were reports that First Lady Patience Jonathan who has a very close confidant from Kwara State was known to have entered the fray with an inclination to project one of the aspirants who recently joined the party from the APC.

Her move has been strongly rebuffed by major stakeholders in the state who called for an unfettered actualisation of the process for the production of a candidate.

Among the leading PDP aspirants from the state are Jani Ibrahim, Sunday Babalola, Abdulraheem Oba, Simon Ajibola, Gbemi Saraki and Dele Belgore.

Given the permutations that favour a southerner in the PDP with the prospects favouring Jani, Babalola or Ajibola, the prospects are that Governor Ahmed may have to confront one of his southern brothers in the main election.

Then in such a scenario the governor would have to present his testimonial as a mark of identification.

Among the projects the governor may have to highlight in his campaign is the Kwara Bridge Empowerment Scheme (KWABES) through which 5,000 youths have found employment, a programme that was subsequently expanded to a Quick Win that has the objective of catching 8,200 youths into the employment sector in 2014.

The administration has also through its N640 million micro-credit scheme dubbed the Kwara Entrepreneurship Scheme successfully increased the capacity of 41,000 small business owners, 100, transporters and 47 artisan groups.

Civil servants in the state have also had their own dose of benefits from the Ahmed administration in the form of a N3 billion car loan facility for the civil servants including teachers.

The administration has also made its marks in the education and health sectors. Since its advent the government has been able to rehabilitate 400 classrooms, introduced free education at the senior secondary school level and facilitated the provision of free notebooks to students.

In the area of health delivery the administration has been able to expand the N500 health insurance scheme to cover as many as 80,000 persons and that is besides the provision of equipment to 13 general hospitals, 43 primary healthcare centres and the execution of a modernisation scheme for some of the health facilities.

These are testimonials that the Ahmed administration will have to present as it seeks a second term in the forthcoming election.