Kwara State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed has explained that his defection from the All Progressives Congress (APC) was a script hatched and perfected by fifth columnists within the party.
A statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Abdulwahab Oba, said the governor spoke when he received the National Executive of Oro Descendents Union (ODU), led by its President, Uthman Tunji Balogun, at the Government House in Ilorin.
Ahmed said he reluctantly dumped the APC when it became obvious that the people “who delivered a 100 per cent victory to the APC were continuously marginalised and persecuted”.
According to the governor, all entreaties to ensure that the people were treated with dignity, equity and justice fell on deaf ears because of those rooting for their personal relevance by marginalising other stakeholders.
“If it were for personal gains, I wouldn’t have left the APC as a sitting governor. The Senate President would also have been contented with the coveted position,” Ahmed said.
The governor reiterated that the struggle is about the interests of Kwarans to participate effectively and meaningfully in the growth and development of Nigeria.
“Leaving the APC goes beyond self interest, but the inability to create opportunities for Kwarans in an administration jointly laboured to put in place.”
The PDP, according to the governor, is a reformed and inclusive party that provides an enabling platform for members to actualise their potentials.
Balogun hailed Ahmed for his bold attempts to change the face of the state through infrastructure and amenities capable of improving the standard of living.
The president, on behalf of the nine communities that make up the Oro kingdom, thanked the governor for his prompt response to their call to upgrade the Kwara State college of Wducation, Oro, to a degree-awarding institution, construction of the Oloro’s Palace and the rehabilitation of Okeola-Oro/Ijomu/Oro road, among others.
The union also appealed to the governor to upgrade the stool of the Oloro to a first class status, rehabilitate interconnecting roads within the kingdom to facilitate movement of goods and services.