Date: 2017-11-07

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stalwart and a former governor of Niger state, Alhaji Babangida Aliyu, has said that the opposition party stands a good chance of reclaiming Kwara state if it does not make a wrong choice of chairman.

Speaking with journalists in Ilorin on Monday after monitoring local government congress of the party in the state, the former governor said that turn out of supporters of the party and their agitations he witnessed had showed that the party still enjoyed acceptability and popularity in the state.

Alhaji Aliyu, who said that the party required emergence of a chairman with ability and commitment to unite the party, added that the choice would make the party stronger for the next general election.

He said with that the party may reclaim the state which it lost to the All Progressives Party (APC) in 2014 when the now Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, led his associates including the state governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, out of the PDP to the APC.

"I think the PDP in Kwara is still very popular and still organized and people are interested and that is what we have seen and this is taking place all over the 16 local government areas of the state.

I am very happy that we have had more than two third of the local governments and I hope that by the time we have the state congress that somebody who will emerge as the sate chairman would be able to bring all the different interests groups together.

"Otherwise, if we go as a divided party, believe me, we will lose Kwara. So I hope the stakeholders will be able to understand this; that to win election you must come together, to win election you must swallow your pride so that you are able to make it up there.

"I am very satisfied with what I have seen, the problem I have is that I have seen some stakeholders that seem not to have faith in what they are. Otherwise things are normal but by the time people speak through this congress; they will understand," he said.

Babangida also commended success of the congress and described the factional agitations that characterized that of the Ilorin East as showing vibrancy of democracy and proof that the party was popular.

The PDP chieftain expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the congresses in 14 out of the 16 local government councils in Kwara state.