2027: An Appeal To Kwara State PDP Leaders And Kwara North PDP Stakeholders To Allow Moro LG Produce Kwara North Senate Candidate-Abdulsalam Abdulrauph

I salute the doggedness, resilience, and commitment of PDP leaders at all levels in Kwara State especially the Kwara North Senatorial District. Our dedication and efforts to reclaim power from the APC in Kwara State in 2027 are commendable and it reflects a truly result-oriented movement.

Since the people of Kwara North regrettably rejected one of their finest political leaders during the 2023 Governorship election, the Kwara North PDP has remained steadfast in its resolve to support a Kwara Central person for governor. This followed the apparent lack of interest shown by the people of Kwara North in directing the affairs of Kwara State during the 2023 general election.

The desire of Kwara North PDP to support a Kwara Central person for governor in 2027 must be matched by our commitment to equity, fairness, and justice within our own home — the Kwara North Senatorial District. Our Senatorial District comprises five Local Government Areas — Baruten, Edu, Kaiama, Moro, and Patigi — with diverse languages and cultural backgrounds. The Batonu and Bokobaru-speaking people are predominantly in Baruten and Kaiama, the Nupe-speaking people are in Edu and Patigi, while Moro LGA is made up of Yoruba, Nupe, and Hausa/Fulani communities, with Yoruba as the major spoken language.

Since the return of democracy in Nigeria in 1999, each of the other four Local Government Areas — Baruten, Edu, Kaiama, and Patigi — has adequately represented Kwara North Senatorial District in the National Assembly. Moro LGA, however, has never been represented in either of the two Chambers of the National Assembly. Over the years, Moro LGA has been reduced to a proverbial table tennis net, with Baruten and Kaiama on one side and Edu and Patigi on the other. 

Moro LGA, which sits at the center of the other four LGAs, connects them all and serves as the headquarters of the Kwara North Senatorial District. Yet it has been relegated to a third-class status within the same Senatorial District to whose unity and progress it has contributed immensely.

As we approach the party primaries in a few days, I appeal to all stakeholders and members of the Kwara North PDP to support the senate bid of Moro LGA to represent our Senatorial District in the National Assembly in 2027. Your support is crucial, especially given the numerical strength you have consistently demonstrated during past primary elections whenever Moro — the only predominantly Yoruba-speaking LGA — seeks the Senate seat of our zone.

One recurring argument Moro LGA faces from the other four Local Government Areas is: ‘How can a Yoruba-speaking man represent Kwara Central, represent Kwara South, and at the same time represent Kwara North in a state with multiple ethnic groups?’ This argument overlooks the fact that their interests are already adequately represented in the Federal House of Representatives, the other Chamber of the National Assembly. It has become an established practice in Kwara North that Baruten/Kaiama and Edu/Patigi are regarded as the rightful occupants of the two House of Representatives seats. This is particularly evident in the Edu/Moro/Patigi Federal Constituency seat, which has always been rotated between Edu and Patigi LGAs without consideration for Moro LGA.

By historical circumstance, Moro LGA is a Yoruba-speaking local government situated among other LGAs that also share traditions and heritage beyond the boundaries of Kwara North. Any Senator representing Kwara North, from any of the Five LGAs, represents not a particular tribe or culture but the good people of Kwara North as a whole and shall communicate in the National Assembly with the Nigeria official language (English Language) not any of the local languages in Kwara North.

Available records indicate that about 65% of people and residents in Baruten, Edu, Kaiama, and Patigi understand Yoruba language. In contrast, less than 5% of Batonu and Bokobaru people can speak Nupe, and less than 5% of Nupe people can speak Batonu or Bokobaru. This data shows that the other four LGAs can comfortably relate with the Yoruba-speaking people of Moro LGA without any language barrier.

It is on the strength of these facts that I appeal to our people in Baruten, Edu, Kaiama, and Patigi to, in the interest of love, peace, and unity, adopt the doctrine of equity, fairness, and justice in the political arrangement of Kwara North for 2027 and unanimously give Moro LGA a collective support to get the PDP Kwara North Senate nomination and work towards representing Kwara North in the National Assembly. By doing so, we will demonstrate to the entire Kwara State that Kwara North is a bastion of peace and unity.

Giving Moro LGA this opportunity to represent our Senatorial District will open doors and send a strong message to all of us in Kwara State that Kwara North is a united front that can be entrusted with the future of our state.

Once again, on behalf of the good people of Moro LGA, I respectfully appeal to our brethren from Baruten, Edu, Kaiama, and Patigi LGAs to graciously allow Moro LGA to occupy the Kwara North seat in the Red Chamber of the National Assembly this time around-Hon. AbdulSalam AbdulRauph Abdullahi, former Secretary, Moro LGA, writes from Ilorin, Kwara State