Kwara State’s Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, might be set to end his Senatorial ambition and concede his seat to incumbent Sen. Abdulrafiu Ibrahim.
According to the Nation, Ahmed’s godfather, Bukola Saraki is not interested in taking risks and feels that the current incumbent is the safest option for the party.
According to the Nation, a PDP source said: “Our leader has taken the senatorial ticket away from the governor because he cannot afford to take any risk. The slot is now for the present occupant of the seat, Sen. Abdulrafiu Ibrahim. What we are trying to do is to give the governor a soft landing. We do not want it to appear as if the governor is being humiliated. To get the ticket, the governor sent emissaries to our leader. It has now turned out that the shoe is bigger than him because 2019 poll is really testy for us.
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“Our leader has been in the state in the past 48 hours to put things in order since he will serve as the Director-General of the Presidential Campaign Council of PDP. If you leave your pot unwatched, your food will get burnt.”
Ahmed, however, was adamant that the decision not to got for a Senate seat was not due to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s loss of the Ekiti/ Oke Ero/ Irepodun bye-election.
In a statement released by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communications, Dr. Muyideen Akorede, the governor said: “The Governor said, on the contrary, consultation had been going on before the November 17 elections within the political family to consider the request by the leadership of the Ibolo division of Kwara South, from where the current Senator hails, for a second tenure at the Senate
“Furthermore, he said that the ongoing consultation was based on the view that the Igbomina and Ekiti divisions had successfully served two terms in the Senate as opposed to the Ibolo division whose representative had served only one term in the Senate.
“While describing the last by-election as a farcical exercise marked by voter intimidation, widespread disenfranchisement and the use of security agencies against PDP supporters and members, Ahmed said the result of such a disputed election could, therefore, not have formed the basis of a review of his candidacy for the Kwara South Senatorial elections. He assured that PDP will win the general elections in the state as the people of Kwara have resolved never to allow such harassment by security agents again.”
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