Saraki and the Threat of Opposition in Kwara
The hegemony of Senate President Bukola Saraki in Kwara politics is being challenged by the opposition. Hammed Shittu examines the dynamics that are likely to determine the 2019 general election in the state
It is not an overstatement to say that the November 18, 2017 local government council election was not the best outing for members and the leadersship of the ruling All Progressives Congress(APC) in Kwara State. During the election, the political dynasty of the late strongman of Kwara politics and former Senate Leader, Dr. Olusola Saraki, built and nurtured over the years, came under threat due to a partial victory recorded by opposition Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP).
The concern now is that what many consider as a very formidable dynasty which is currently under the leadership of the scion of the late politician and present Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, who was also a former governor of the state, is under threat.
For the first time in the history of the state, in a period of over 40 years since the Saraki family has managed the political affairs of the state, an opposition party, specifically the PDP, sprang a surprise by snatching eight councillorship seats in a local government election conducted by the ruling party in the state.
It is a development political analysts expect to give the APC leadership some sleepless nights, even though they successfully delivered all the 16 chairmanship positions to the party without allowing PDP to take even one.
Historically, the Saraki dynasty never lost any seat to an opposition in the the state. All the seats in any local council elections so far conducted in the state were always won by the candidates approved by the power brokers without any hindrance and this had been due to the acceptability of “Baba Oloye’ as the late father of the Senate President was fondly called by his political admirers.
The younger Saraki has no doubt consolidated on the foundation laid by his father. He took over the political leadership of the state with calculated dexterity and like his dad, during his tenure as governor, in the two local government councils elections conducted, no opposition got any seat. All the candidates he supported for the councillorship and chairmanship positions won with landslide.
The secret is simply that practically all the political elites and people of the state work hand in glove with the arrangement of the leaders and also, there has always been a well planned approach to good governance at the grassroots.
Even under the present administration of Governor Abdufatah Ahmed which conducted two local government elections, it was only during the last year’s poll that an opposition won eight councillorship seats. All the other candidates of the APC won landslide electoral victories.
Away from the peripheral and looking deeply into the issues, some watchers of the Kwara State politics and members of the opposition PDP are of the opinions that the people of the state are beginning to wean themselves from the control of the dynasty.
The argument making the round among those unfavourably disposed to the APC leadership in the state is that had the election not conducted by the state independent electoral commission, believed to be taking instructions from the ruling party, the party would have lost more local government councils seats in the state to the opposition.
Despite the leadership crisis at the national level and the internal wrangling that rocked the PDP in the state before the local government councils election, the party was able to put up a strong show against the APC. Some members of the APC were said to be dissatisfied with the leadership of the party in the state and did not bother to help the party during the election.
In fact, some APC leaders were defeated at their polling units in the election. This caused a stir within the ruling party which believed it had done well to win all the councillorship seats during the election.
Several reasons were responsible for the loss of the seats to the PDP. Prominent among them is the allegation that the APC in the state did not meet the needs of some of its stakeholders. To express their grievances, these people chose to work against the electoral victory of their party during the election.
Also, the non- payment of the workers in the 16 local government councils of the state was another factor that affected APC and paved the way for the electoral victory of PDP candidates.
Before the conduct of the election, council workers were owed over 12 months salaries, a situation that forced some of the workers to turn to begging as a means of livelihood. They blamed the state government for nonpayment of their salaries, an allegation the state governor rejected. These council workers were unhappy with the ruling party and would be too happy to see the party lose the election. They worked against the APC in areas where theY could garner enough support.
As if this was not enough, some of the members of the APC who were said to be dissatisfied with the attitude and action of some leaders in their various wards and local government areas came out enmasse to mobilise against the party in the election.
APC sources hinted that some of the political leaders were very worried as the results of that elections were coming out on the election day, as some of them lost their wards to the PDP.
The development was said to have angered the Senate President who could not believe the disappointment recorded during the election and was said to have vowed to go back to the drawing board so as to work harder in order to come up with a system that will guarantee efficient and effective electoral victory ahead of the 2019 general elections.
The plan, according to sources close to the dynasty, is to return the party to total winning track for which it was known in the state.
However, one of such moves being planned by the political leader of the state is to create special constituency office within Kwara Central Senatorial District which he represents to enable him reach out to more people in the area.
This would also help him to get reliable feedbacks that would help in addressing the issue of perceived neglect being raised among some people in the area.This, to Saraki, is charity beginning at home.
Another move being carried out by Saraki was the new change in the leadership of its campaign house tagged, “Mandate House.” The idea is to bring on board more talented politicians that would see to the day to day administration of his campaign office.
The Mandate campaign house is the political house that has produced many political office holders in the state, including including the incumbent governor and his deputy, Elder Peter Kisra, senators, members of the House of Representatives, state lawmakers, local government chairmen, councillors, commissioners, special advisers and several others.
The office usually embarks on various welfarist programmes for the people of Kwara Central Senatorial District. It also undertakes many developmental projects in the district - like road construction, transformers distribution poverty alleviation, construction of boreholes, distribution of educational materials to students among others. It also extends these giant strides to the other two senatorial districts that make up the state.
So, Saraki has appointed a grass roots man, a former commissioner and special adviser on Political Matters, Alhaji Musa Abdullahi as the new Director General of the campaign/ constituency office.
Speaking at the handing over ceremony, which took place at the office, the outgoing Director General of the campaign, Abdulwahab Oladimeji Issa enjoined his successor to use his wealth of experience in public offices to serve the people of the district and the state at large.
He stated that, the dispensation of the dividends of democracy for which the office was established sas the cornerstone of the programmes that the constituency office runs.
Abdulwahab thanked Saraki for the numerous successes that were recorded during his time in office, including road constructions, rehabilitation of Agba dam, provision of borehole, street lights, empowerment to the young and old, especially women and widows.
According to him, the numerous employment and job opportunities that the Senate President brought to the district and the state as a whole were the biggest impact recorded as well as the numerous financial assistances that were given to the old and young for social functions and to attend to their health .
In his response, the new DG, Abdulahi pledged to work with the management and the entire staff to improve the fortune of the constituency office. He urged them to come up with different ideas to move the office forward and serve the electorates better.
He reiterated that the the constituency office is an umbrella body that would continue to attend to the demands of the people .
With this inauguration of the new leadership at the campaign office of the Saraki dynasty led by an astute politician, Abdullahi, ahead of 2019 general elections, a stage should now be set for record breaking victories in the political history of the state as being envisaged by Saraki.
Only time will tell how much of this will be actualised.
Some members of the opposition PDP are of the opinion that the people of the state are beginning to wean themselves from the control of the dynasty