By Hammed Shittu
Former Senate President and leader of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) in Kwara state, Dr. Bukola Saraki, at the weekend said that the PDP is now determined to reclaim the power from the ruling All Progressives Congress(APC) with the emergence of new state executive officials of the party during 2023 polls.
Saraki, however, urged the new state executive officials to start work across the 193 wards in the state to spread the good gospel of the party so as to wrestle power from the APC.
Speaking to a mammoth crowd of party supporters at the venue of the state congress of PDP, held in Ilorin, Saraki alleged that, the present government of APC has failed in its mandate to provide good leadership to the people of the state and we are set to reclaim our mandate from the APC ruling government in Kwara so as to continue with our good leadership”.
He said: “We are determined to reclaim our mandate, our mandate for the people is the contract we had with the people. We have shown that we are those and are group that are committed for the lives of the peoples. We did not want power for power, we did not want power for family interest, we want power for the interest of our people and that is why we need to go forward. We will make history today because we are making history today.”
He added: “The PDP held its ward and local congresses without any hindrance and now we have done our state congress with success and we are thankful to those that make today a huge success again. And we are ready to lead the state again come 2023 because this is an example that PDP is set to wrestle power as we are one united, committed among others and we have good interest of our people and not for an individual agenda. We are party today, that is working for the progress, peace and that is the reason we are not having security agencies to maintain peace here unike other party that are being guided due to the factionalisation and we are ready to lead by example in order to provide qualitative leadership to our people.
“Let me thank those people that make today a reality by making sacrifices in the sharing of executive positions of our party and this is because we are ready to lead our people into a greater opportunities that the other party has failed to provide for our people.
“I want to thank all our leaders and members from the wards and local government levels for today’s historic state congress because without your support today state congress will not be possible”.
“The way you have done this, this is the same way by the God’s grace, you will lead the PDP to electoral victory come 2023 and we will be able to reposition our state again for economic development,” he stated.
While thanking the past executive officials of the party for their selfless service to the party, Saraki advised the incoming state executive officials to start work immediately and spread the good gospels of the party to all the 193 wards in the state so as to reclaim the PDP mandate and return power to the people during the next general elections.
He also urged the youths and teeming womenfolk in the party to continue to work for the success of the party noted that, the party has fulfilled the 30 per cent allocation of seats to them in the quest to ensure inclusiveness in the day to day administration of the party.
Saraki pointed out further that “It is time for us to show that women are inclusive in the party. We made it mandatory that youth should carry 30 per cent of our position and we achieved that. We made it mandatory that 30 per cent of our position should be for females and we achieved that.
“This is a new phase of PDP that is ready to be inclusive that is ready to bring everybody abroad. Let us be ready because we are not doing it for ourselves but the people of Kwara”.
Also speaking, the new state chairman of the party, Hon. Babatunde Muhammed assured the party faithful and the leaders that the work has started as directed and would work assiduously to ensure PDP is returned to power come 2023.
He said: “My executive officials would move to all the length and breadth of Kwara State to canvass for votes because the present government in Kwara state has failed the people of the state since assumption of office”.
Muhammed, who is also a former Speaker of the state House of Assembly, however, urged the party faithful and supporters to give support the new state executive officials of the party in the task ahead in order to assist the party to reclaim the power from the incumbent government
and thereby providing qualitative leadership to the entire populace of the state come 2023.
