Date: 2018-09-25

Foremost traditional rulers in Kwara State have maintained their stance on the need for political parties to adopt principles that will allow Kwara North Senatorial District produce the next governor in 2019.

The Etsu Patigi, Alhaji Chatta Umar and his Tsaragi Emirate counterpart, Alhaji Aliyu Ndakpoto, stated this on Sunday while receiving a governorship aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress, (APC), Alhaji Shuaibu Yaman Abdullahi, at the palaces respectively.

Yaman was received at Share, Tsagari, Lafiagi, Zambufu,Ndeji, Gbugbu, Lade and Patigi communities respectively by mammoth crowd who declared their unflinching support for his governorship bid in Kwara State as well as President Muhammadu Buhari's second term re-election stressing that Kwara North indigenes are tired of bad leadership in the state.

The Etsu Patigi, Alhaji Chatta Umar, said: "It is expected that every man and woman of good conscience will be of the same page in this our plight for zoning of governorship slot to Kwara North. It is on this note that I urge political parties especially the major dominant ones in Kwara State, PDP and APC to ensure that they pick their governorship candidates from the North."

Similarly, the Etsu Tsaragi, Alhaji Aliyu Ndakpoto, lamented over the spate of underdevelopment in the Kwara North Senatorial District even as he attributed it to aged long marginalization and poor leadership in the state.

He stressed that the uneven political arrangements in the state has rendered the Kwara North indigenes useless and irrelevant in the scheme of things especially in governance stressing that Kwara North is highly important for the existence of Kwara State in the North Central Region.

The monarch said: "I am not pretending. I am in support of Kwara North governorship ambition in 2019. It is the turn of Kwara North.

The Colonialists brought us together for convenience and not for slavery. All Kwara central aspirants should support Kwara North aspirant to become the next Governor of Kwara State so that we can maintain brotherhood."

In his remarks, the APC guber aspirant had earlier informed the traditional rulers his decision to contest the governorship seat in 2019 and urged them to be supportive in the advocacy for the support of the people at the grassroot.

He also noted that Northern Nigeria has all it takes to remain in power due its numerical strength adding that the zoning principle had allow for every parts of the country to be adequately represented and you will agree with me that has actually worked in favour of somebody like former President Goodluck Jonathan who is from minority group.

Yaman also commiserated with victims of flood disaster in Patigi local government area of the state. He condemned the state government for being insensitive and non-proactive to the plight of communities prone to the disaster.

"It is has become an annual event but unfortunately, the state government is not being sincere and sensitive to finding measures of addressing the disaster holistically. I appeal to the federal government to come to the rescue of the people on the bank of River Niger", he said.