Kwara North: Grumbling In The Air As Adamu Manko Announces Senate Bid…Party Stalwart Says He Didn’t Rate Or Endorse Any APC Guber Aspirant During Press Interview
A prominent politician in Kwara State, Alhaji Adamu Atahiru Manko, who left SDP for APC a few days ago, is in the news again!
Talking to some owners of online news outlets in Ilorin on Monday, Alhaji Manko, who was the Kwara North SDP Senate candidate in the 2023 National Assembly elections, disclosed that he would be joining the 2027 Kwara North Senate race.
This has confirmed the story published by your darling medium, orientactualmags.com last month in which we asserted that Manko was planning to leave SDP for APC and also relaunch senate bid.
Manko is from Patigi local government, and it is clear that no one from the three other ‘major’ local governments in the senatorial district; Edu, Kaiama and Baruten would be joining the Senate race.
Those who have represented the senatorial district since 1999 are Ndama Zuruq from Patigi local government (1999-2003), Ahmed Mohammed from Baruten local government (2003 -2011), Shaaba Lafiaji from Edu local government (2011-2019) and the current occupant of the parliament seat, Sadiq Umar from Kaiama Local Government who has been in the Senate since 2019.
It is an unspoken agreement that the Senate seat will move to Patigi local government hence the competition for the APC Senate nomination mainly by people who are indigenes of the local government in question..
Three people have had their names mentioned in connection with the Senate race at least for now, and they are Baba Kolo Jiya, Adamu Manko and a technocrat, who is a Director at HYPADEC .
Jiya and Manko are from the same Pada district but from different wards.
The hotelier turned politician, Jiya, was the Kwara North NNPP Senate candidate in the 2023 National Assembly elections, but he left the party to join APC the same year.
Alhaji Manko ‘s disclosure of Senate bid has sparked grumbling in the APC especially the Patigi local government chapter of the party and some among the party leaders told Team@orientactualmags.com on Tuesday that they will resist any attempt to rubbish the efforts of those who have spent time and energy to strengthen the party whilst Alhaji Manko was zigzagging and failed to take a definitive decision on what should be his political platform.
‘ We learned that the governor has promised him Kwara North APC Senate nomination, but we did not attach importance to it until he made the disclosure yesterday.
This is annoying, we are grumbling but it may graduate to a roar.
This kind of grumbling carries the potential for a serious crisis.
People like Jiya Kolo spent time, energy and resources on reconciliation among party members, did everything needful to keep the party going in terms of financial support and also did a lot to support the party during the local government elections.
Where was the now anointed candidate then? So, because efforts have been made to ensure that the party continues to be attractive to people, someone will just surface and take the highly valued party nomination. We will not accept such a thing’ one of the party leaders said.
A chieftain of APC in Patigi local government,who spoke on condition of anonymity, however told Team@orientactualmags.com that some among the owners of online news outlets misrepresented what Alhaji Adamu Manko said while taking questions from them.
Manko, he noted, did not at any point during the press interview rate aspirants from Kwara North or endorse the candidacy of anyone among the gubernatorial aspirants.
He did not also place any of the aspirants in any particular class.
‘The context of the question was this; he pleaded that the Kwara South and Kwara Central should allow the Kwara North to produce the next governor of the state adding that there are qualified people from the region.
You know that there has been this wrong insinuation that Kwara North is not united and he now said ‘who told them that Kwara North is not united? He asserted that there are indigenes of Kwara North who are eminently qualified to successfully handle governorship duties and responsibilities or any other position for that matter and he listed them to include but not limited to Sadiq Umar, Speaker Danladi, Makama, Kolo and others.
It is mischievous to say that he rated some high or endorse anyone, he only made references, he only conceptualized .
You know he was asked if there are qualified people from Kwara North and he made references to some people’ the source said.
Commenting on the alleged grumbling in the party, the source submitted that it is wrong for anyone to consider the arrival of new members in the party as a hindrance to political aspirations.
‘Politics is about interest, nobody is denying anybody of their place. When we get to the bridge, we will cross it.
What is sacrosanct is the unity of Kwara North, we must remain united irrespective of political aspirations.
Nobody has been given automatic party nomination, people are only expressing their interests which is normal .
Of course, nobody will deny anyone what he or she wants, it will however be wrong to say the coming into the party of someone is an obstruction to the interest of others’ he submitted- Team@orientactualmags.com Do you have any information you wish to share with us? Do you want us to cover your event or programme? Kindly send SMS to 08059100286, 09094171980 or get in touch via orientactualmag@gmail.com. Thank you
