From Olanrewaju Lawal, Ilorin
The legacy group of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has tasked the party to zone the Kwara South Senatorial ticket to the Ibolo speaking community of the state.
A Chieftain of the group, Alhaji Taofik Alani, said this in an interview with Journalists in Ilorin at the weekend.
He said the group’s position was informed by the need to ensure balance, justice, equity and fair play in the party’s zoning arrangement.
Alani noted that the Igbomina and Ekiti speaking communities of the seven local governments constituting the Kwara South Senatorial district have produced Senators for the area since 1999.
The group leader said the past senators produced by both Igbomina and Ekiti tribes includes; the Special Adviser to President Jonathan on National Assembly, Senator Makanjuola Ajadi, an Igbomina man served between 1999 and 2005 and the incumbent Senator Simeon Ajibola who took over from Ajadi is an Ekiti man.
He argued that it was in the interest of natural justice to allow the Ibolos from Offa/Oyun local government areas to produce the next senator for the district.
The group argued that since the incumbent Governor, Abdulfatai Ahmed, an Igbomina man, has been endorsed for the second term, it would be appropriate to zone the district’s senatorial slot to Ibolo areas.
According to him, “Since this democratic dispensation started, this Federal Constituency has not been allowed to wholly represent Kwara South at the Upper Legislative Chamber”.
Alani said that the group was aware that there is a subtle arrangement that the top most echelon of the party intended to maintain the status quo in the North and Central Districts.
“If the legacy group is edged out in the current power distribution, it may open a window for the opposition to begin to woo its members.
“This will spell doom for the APC if the 2011 election results are to be revisited, the combination of the legacy group and the PDP will wreck the ship of APC in Kwara South”, Alani said.
The group advised APC leaders to remember that gone were the days when federal support aided their candidates alleged to be unpopular among the electorate to win.
“What is fair is for the leaders to have an understanding that out of the eight House of Assembly positions in the South, the legacy should take three”, he said.
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