There have been strong rumours that Saraki and his protege, Governor
Abdulfatah Ahmed might dump the APC for the PDP following the Atiku
effect.
The Governor of Kwara State, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, has said he
and the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, would not join a former Vice
President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Ahmed said they were committed to using the platform of the APC to deliver service to the people.
Governor Ahmed addressed newsmen in Abuja on Sunday.
He pointed out that while they had cause to dump the PDP as of the time they did, they had no reason to leave the APC now.
According to Ahmed, “It is very unlikely for us to return to
the PDP because we are not unhappy with where we are in terms of
expectations, service delivery and direction of governance.
“When you are already working towards achieving result , you
will want to see that the result get to the people before you will begin
to say you want to jump boat.
“We don ’t have any reason to jump boat for now. Don’t forget
that we left the PDP because we had reasons to do so. We don’t have
reasons to leave now. We have reason to see that service delivery is
given to the people.
“We are committed to ensuring it gets to the people. When I
used the word ‘we,’ it is inclusive of the Senate President. We are
fully committed to using the instrumentality of the APC to deliver
service to the people and we have a strong direction.
“It will be foolhardy to abandon that, leave and go and start
all over again. When I say ‘we,’ I am talking about the political group
in Kwara.”
He said former President Goodluck Jonathan made it easy for them to
leave the PDP because he did not inaugurate any project in Kwara State.
On National convention of the PDP, Ahmed added, “No, their convention was not a threat.
“In fact, I expect that they should organise themselves because
we require a vibrant opposition. Don’t forget that it is when there are
checks and balances in the system that allow you to see areas of
deficit and improve on what you are doing.
“Without a viable opposition, we may likely not be able to see
what we are doing wrong. You know the system is full of people that will
always tell you what you want to hear but from the perspective of the
opposition, you will begin to see clearly areas that require adjustment
and improvement. For me, their coming on board is a welcome
development.”
The governor further explained that it would be foolhardy of him to
run the state independent of the Senate President or any other person
that had contributions to make.
Ahmed said, “Kwara State Government is run under institutional
frameworks that are working. I was part and parcel of my predecessor’s
administration. I was part and parcel of the policy formulation which
formed the bedrock of what I am driving in the state today.
“It will be foolhardy to say I want to run the state
independent of his input . It will also be foolhardy to say I want to
run independent of others that have things to contribute to the state.
“What makes good governance is inclusiveness. Traditionally,
people are used to seeing sitting governors fighting their predecessors
and sitting Presidents fighting their predecessors. That has robbed us
of continuity, improvement and upscaling.
“We keep forgetting that governance is about service delivery .
We believe that as far as governance is about the people of the state,
we will continue to work together because it was under his
administration I understood politics, policy formulation and service
delivery.
“It will be foolhardy for me to begin to run independent of his opinion and input as well as those before him.
“We have for once made Nigerians to see the benefit of
continuity. If this can be translated to what we do at the national
level , Nigeria will be better off for it.”
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