Date: 2012-08-28

Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Kwara State, yesterday, described as insulting a statement credited to Governor AbdulFattah Ahmed that the incursion of the opposition party into the state was an aberration.

Ahmed had during a meeting with newsmen last week noted that the recent ruling of an election petitions tribunal, which nullified the victory of the ACN in Offa Local Government Area of the state was clear evidence that the state belongs to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), adding that as such, "the incursion of ACN into the state politics is an aberration."

The governor, who noted that some people were not happy with the state because of its success story, expressed concern over insinuations about a purported rift between him and his political leader, Senator Bukola Saraki, saying but for the imagination of those who want nothing good for the state, there was nothing wrong between the two of them.

He described it as a political gimmick by the opposition, which he said was jittery over the ruling PDP's growing influence in the state, adding: "The relationship between me and our political leader is very cordial. We have a very robust relationship that will continue to blossom. We have the same vision and mission of moving Kwara ahead. He (Senator Saraki) has been a strong stabilisation factor for me”.

But the opposition party, in a statement by Rafiu Ajakaye, spokesman for the party's governorship candidate in the last election, Mr. Dele Belgore, said the governor's comments were out of place and implied that the people have no choice in reality about who becomes their governor.

The statement reads: "The governor is entitled to his opinions but we suppose he should know that the answer to the question of who governs the people in a democracy lies entirely with the people. It is surprising, therefore, that the governor would be pre-empting the people of Kwara State who reserves this answer.

"That statement is pregnant and at the same time insulting to the people of Kwara. At any rate, the statement credited to the governor falls in line with those made in the past by PDP helmsmen who boasted at every opportunity that PDP will govern Nigeria for the next 60 years, even when school children would tell you that the last 15 years of PDP's rule has been an unmitigated disaster.

"It is quite funny and indeed ironic that a governor who cannot pay mere salaries, much less embark on any meaningful and real developmental project, is saying his party would continue to rule the same people they have failed to serve. It is a way of saying the people have no choice but to have PDP imposed on them willy-nilly and that election is just mere window dressing. It is against this backdrop that Kwara people should be wary of the PDP and its leaders."