Governor AbdulFatah Ahmed of Kwara State has reiterated his faith in the political leadership of his mentor and predecessor in office, Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki, as the governor again debunked the rumour that both of them no longer see eye to eye. "Senator Saraki is our leader and will continue to be our leader", Ahmed said at the weekend in a chat with newsmen at Government House in Ilorin. "I am particularly lucky to have him behind me because there is no substitute for experience."

He declared that their relationship has been "robust and will continue to blossom," and traced the source of the rumour to the opposition in the state.

"They have failed to understand that it has been ordained by God, what we have in our state".

He recalled that he was not only involved in the formulation of his predecessor's policies but was also part of the implementation, saying that made it possible for him to leverage on his predecessor's achievements to move ahead.

He described Senator Saraki and himself as like minds who share the same vision in moving the state forward.

The governor also spoke of the reasons for the introduction of the controversial urbanization law of 2009 which was last week suspended in the state.

According to Ahmed, the law was not meant to cause chaos but to ensure optimal use of land to generate revenue.

He noted with dismay that the law was misconstrued by members of the public, adding that all being said about the law were incorrect.

He told newsmen that government had met with affected people, who have been educated about the law and are now all happy.

He attributed the misunderstanding to communication problem, saying that the law had been referred to the state House of Assembly for review.

"As a government, the law makes us custodian of public resources and we will not derail from that. All we are doing is to harness the resources and ensure their optimal usage".

Governor Ahmed who expressed concern over the uproar that greeted the introduction of the law urged members of the public to always channel their grievances through the right quarters instead of taking it to the mass media.

He emphasized that his government is a listening one with an open-door policy, saying that the government would not hesitate to address any issue of public interest.

Culled from The Herald Newspaper