By Hammed Shittu in Ilorin
The Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq gubernatorial campaign organisation has pledged the commitment of All Progressives Congress governorship candidate’s commitment to respecting traditional institution if elected into office.
A statement issued in Ilorin on Wednesday by one of the spokespersons of the organisation, Mr. Tajudeen Kareem, said that, “the tradition of the people especially Ilorin emirate is well documented and unambiguous and cannot be contested by anybody.”
Apparently reacting to the recent interview by a cleric in Ilorin emirate, Sheikh Abdulrahim Aduranigba, where he said that, the APC governorship candidate, Alhaji Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq, would enthrone an Oba of Ilorin if elected as the next governor of the state, the statement however said that “We respect the rights of individuals to ventilate their views, opinions and political preferences but we however strongly deny that the views expressed in the above instance represent the position of our party, the APC, or its gubernatorial candidate”.
According to the statement, “In fact, the interviewee, Sheikh Abdulrahim Aduragba, is neither a card-carrying member of the Kwara APC nor sponsored to herald the agenda of the governorship hopeful.
“Our flag bearer is a bona fide indigene of Ilorin Emirate who is well grounded in the tradition and culture of the people.
“We therefore find it ludicrous that anyone will seek to manipulate or change the history and culture of the people of Ilorin, given the
unambiguous history and its relevance to the current traditional arrangement”.
The statement added that, “We hereby recall the historical roles played by the patriarch of the Abdulrazaq family, Lawyer A.G.F. Abdulrazaq, SAN, in ensuring that Ilorin emirate holds its pre-eminent position in Northern region
“Every student of history understands the role Alhaji A.G.F. Abdulrazaq played in 1955 to convince the Willink Commission that Ilorin belonged to the Northern region.
“This eventually earned him the highly respected chieftaincy title of Mutawalen of Ilorin making him one of the trusted hands of the emir of Ilorin during the reign of the late
9th Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji (Dr.) Zulukanaini Muhammadu Gambari, CFR”.
The statement therefore urged the people of the state to continue to support APC and its governorship candidate, Alhaji Abdulrasaq, so as to ensure his electoral victory come March 9 elections in the state.
