Kwara State Government and PDP Chairman in War of Words over Governor’s Endorsement
The Kwara State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party has said that the state governor, Ahmed Abdulfatah, won’t be re-elected in 2015 as he has failed the people.
The chairman of the party, Akogun Iyiola Oyedepo, during an interview on Saturday, faulted the choice of the governor as the consensus candidate of All Progressives Congress, saying:
“His endorsement by his leader, Bukola Saraki, was just a mere autocratic and selfish pronouncement which the people of Kwara State will reject at the poll in 2015.
“Our party will reclaim the stolen mandate the governor and his godfather, Bukola Saraki, took to the APC. The governor has nothing to show to the electorate. The roads in the state are bad, students scored less than 10 per cent in West Africa Examination Council Result, primary schools are dead and there are no adequate health facilities in the state, as there are no drugs for the people.
“Governor Ahmed has failed the people of Kwara South where he hails from. Nothing to show in that area, I am from there too. They deceived the state by bringing in just 15 farmers from Zimbabwe and siphoned millions of naira into a failed agric project. In my own house, like most Kwarans, I am both the local and state governments because I provide my own water, security and road network.
“What PDP is asking for is just a level playing ground for people to cast their votes. Tell Saraki, the person you called giant, that nothing lasts forever and that by 2015, we are going to defeat APC in this state.”
The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Wahab Alabi Oba, has however replied Oyedepo’s comments, stating the achievements of the governor in health, agricultural, education, infrastructure and other sectors across the three senatorial zones in the state.
He said: “The submissions of the Kwara PDP that Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed will not get a second term as the governor of Kwara State because of failure of budget performances since he assumed office, is not only shallow, unsustainable and unverifiable but it’s also untrue.
“Though the burden of proof is squarely on those who alleged, we make bold to say that the governor has kept faith with his pledge to the people and has religiously implemented the budgets based on inflow of resources, especially from the Federal Government.
“For the records, the administration, for instance, upped the ante of rural electrifications through the procurement and installation of transformers in over 159 communities across the state. Additional 100 transformers have been purchased, awaiting installation. The logic is that rural electrification will enhance development and Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in the nooks and crannies of the state.
“Similarly, roads are been constructed and rehabilitated as a means of driving and promoting socio-economic development of the state. Thus, over 800 kilometres of urban and rural roads as well as federal roads, that ordinarily is the statutory responsibility of the PDP run Federal Government, are being touched for the good of our people. What has the PDP stalwarts done to prevail on their masters in Abuja to attract federal attention?”
