Gov Abdulrazaq Declared Winner Of 2023 Kwara Guber Election…It’s ‘Historic Victory’

Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq has   achieved a  historic victory  in the gubernatorial election held in Kwara state on  Saturday, 18 March 2023.

 Returning Officer for the 2023  gubernatorial election in Kwara state, Professor Isaac Itodo,  who is the Vice Chancellor of the University of Markurdi, Benue state, declared Governor Abdulrazaq as winner  of the election at the state headquarters of  the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Ilorin on Sunday.

The governor, who won in all the 16 local governments in the state, got  273,424 votes while the PDP  gubernatorial candidate, Alhaji Shuaib Yaman Abdullahi  had 155,490 votes.

 SDP candidate, Alhaji Hakeem Lawal got 18,922 votes ,  the NNPP candidate, Professor Shuaib Oba Abdulraheem had 4,398 votes , the YPP  candidate, Alhaji Yakubu Gobir , who had though announced his decision to withdraw from the race and endorsed Governor Abdulrazaq, still had 2,036 voters that decided to vote for him. The LP candidate also had 1,647 votes.

Even before results were announced from Saturday’s voting, supporters of Abdulrazaq were celebrating his apparent victory over the opposition candidates.

  For very good reasons, it was a historic victory for Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq and political pundits will continue  to debate and discuss outcome of the 2023 Kwara state gubernatorial election for a very long time.

Sequel to his becoming the governor in 2019, Abdulrazaq had been referred to by all as a major beneficiary of the ‘Otoge movement’ that had gotten the political structure controlling the state ousted.

Many were quick to assert that   the governor was unfair to others and issue of ‘sweat equity’  was readily on the lips of the stakeholders in the state APC.

Situation worsened with Abdulahi Samari and Bashir Bolarinwa  laying claim to chairmanship of the state APC.   This later produced ‘original APC’ members who eventually left the party for the SDP.

With his election victory on Sunday, no one will talk about being a member of a movement that had made him win re-election and later got abandoned.

The governor had during the electioneering cleverly avoided talks that had to do with the ‘otoge movement’ but had rather asserted that he had performed well in his first term and therefore deserves a second term in office. This had given birth to ‘Ma a selo’ and this was what party members and supporters chanted at campaign rallies.

With his victory ,  he  had somewhat made  it clear that his candidacy earned him re-election and not a product of ‘unity of effort’ like many had claimed in  2019  .

 While a principal member of the Saraki political structure, Hajia Gbemisola Saraki was in support of his candidacy in  2019 , this time around, the former senator , who is currently the Minister of State for Mines and Steel Development , stood against Abdulrazaq and  he has eventually emerged victorious.

Talking to reporters at the state INEC headquarters  including Team@orientactualmags.com on Sunday, the state APC Chairman, Prince Sunday Fagbemi   said  Kwarans’ expectations will be met.

  ‘I know they like the progress that is going on in Kwara state, as I have said  with what the people have done, the governor will do much better than we have seen’  he said.

 Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq  in his acceptance speech has said the overwhelming victory that  his party  recorded in the Saturday election  underscored the desire of the citizens to continue along the path of positive progress Kwara has recorded over the past three years.

 He has also dedicated the election victory to God and to the ‘people of our state’.

‘This victory is truly humbling, and we give all glory to God who has made this happen. It speaks to our people’s understanding of our history, their appreciation of the progress made between yesterday and today, and their commitment to a greater tomorrow. It reflects the wishes of Kwarans at home and in Diaspora to sustain the gains of the past three and a  half years. It means they appreciate our modest efforts to improve the lot of our state.

My profound appreciation goes to all the stakeholders for the truly pan-Kwara mandate: young or old, men and women, traditional and religious institutions, civil servants, private sector players, thoughts leaders, political leaders, market men and women, artisans, the media, students, and our young ones who energized our communities with that sweet, creative chant of ‘Maa se lo’. 

For me, the victory is a call to consolidate on and further spread the gains of the past three and a half years and do much more for the people. I pledge to recommit myself to this. Together, we will build a Kwara whose politics will be anchored on giving equitable opportunities to all, expanding the state’s economic base, and delivering dividends of democracy to the citizenry in an atmosphere of peace and respect for the dignity of the human person. 

I dedicate this election victory to God and to the people of our state — in the north, south, and central. They have shown once again, that power resides with the people. Finally, I commend the peaceful conduct of the election, and especially congratulate the security agencies, the electoral umpire, and the political elites for jointly making Kwara polls the most peaceful in Nigeria’ he submitted.

Otunba Anu Ibiwoye ,  who was PDP  Agent at the collation centre and  the Deputy Director General, Kwara South of the state campaign council, told reporters including Team@orientactualmags.com that the party will  examine the election results before taking a decision on the next course of action.

‘We have taken note of the election results  announced today, we will go back and look at these results and examine them  against what  our agent have  collated  and we will take it from there.

 I think what is normal to do is when results are announced, you will examine such results,   we  have not received any negative report but  we are also aware that none of the collation agents at the local governments was here, so it is normal to look at these issues and examine the results.

  If there are grounds to disagree  will the election outcome, we will  but if not we will accept it’ he said.

‘To our supporters,  they should keep calm, let us continue  to support the party  I know if our day doesn’t come  in  2023, it will come some other day’ he added- 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. Thank you