Re: Will Ahmed make it to Senate in 2019

This piece is in reaction to the article published in the January 7th edition of Daily Trust on Sunday, titled “Will Ahmed make it to Senate in 2019?” While we think that the debate on the 2019 Kwara South Senatorial District Senate ticket is premature since the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Kwara State has […]

This piece is in reaction to the article published in the January 7th edition of Daily Trust on Sunday, titled “Will Ahmed make it to Senate in 2019?”

While we think that the debate on the 2019 Kwara South Senatorial District Senate ticket is premature since the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Kwara State has established procedure for producing ticket bearers in all elections, we emphasize that Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed is at the moment focussed on fulfilling his mandate as governor of Kwara State and has not declared interest in contesting for the position or any other.

Having said that,  we need to state very clearly that the governor is not unpopular. Also, Governor Ahmed is not having any problems with his predecessor and current Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, as insinuated by the writer.

To be clear, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed continues to enjoy a warm and highly-cordial relationship with Dr Bukola Saraki, who he regards as a political leader and a respected stakeholder being a former governor of the state.

For the records, Dr. Saraki and Alhaji Ahmed’s relationship dates back several decades and is driven by love, respect and a mutual interest in the advancement of Kwara State.

Therefore, no campaign from any quarters, within and outside our political system in Kwara State, by those who think that the close relationship between the two leaders threatens their ambition, will succeed.

It is also not true that Dr. Saraki interferes with governance in the state, other than offering counsel when consulted, like others, as a former governor of the state and a major stakeholder in Kwara State and indeed Nigeria.

We are particularly concerned by the attempts in the article to mould history and facts by painting Governor Ahmed as non-performing. Nothing could be farther from the truth and the facts speak for themselves.

Governor Ahmed has established himself as trustworthy by fulfilling his pre-election pledge to ensure continuity by completing and sustaining inherited projects as well as  ground-breaking new ones.

Today, Kwara State, on Governor Ahmed’s watch, stands as an exception to the trend of abandoned projects in Nigeria.

Besides the fact that the Ahmed administration showed faith by completing inherited projects, it has also initiated and taken new ones to various levels of completion, thus opening a new spectre of development in Kwara State.

Despite the apparent paucity of funds in the country, the state also currently has hundreds of kilometres of on-going road projects at various stages of completion. We therefore see no basis for the writer’s claim of non-performance against the governor. The facts clearly negate that falsehood.

We must also correct the false impression that there is disaffection against the administration over perceived non-payment of workers and pensioners.

For the record, Kwara State is one of the few states in the country that is currently up to date in payment of salaries and pensions. At the state level, no worker or pensioner is owed any arrears except for tertiary institution workers whose institutions are owed subvention arrears and will be paid soon.

Despite not being responsible for the unfortunate salary and pension arrears at the local government level in the state, caused by drop in federal allocation to that tier of government, the state governor is currently helping the councils to clear the arrears through biometric verification and IGR reforms.

Finally, we re-emphasise the fact that Governor Ahmed continues to enjoy the trust, love and support of Kwarans from all walks of life across three senatorial districts of the state, who are impressed by his warmth, intellect, performance and achievements.

Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed swore to uphold the welfare and security of all Kwarans and residents and he continues to deliver on the mandate through a tradition of high performance initiated in his first tenure and sustained in the current one to the admiration of Kwarans and non-Kwarans alike despite serious resource challenges.

Dr. Muyideen Femi Akorede is the Senior Special Assistant, Media and Communication, to the Kwara State governor.