North must produce speaker, Kwara Must Change insists

Lanre Babalola

A pro-democracy group in Kwara State, Kwara must Change, has denied endorsing Hon. Saheed Poola for the position of speaker in the Kwara State House of Assembly.

The group in a statement signed by its president Abdulrazaq Hamzat, described the group which endorsed Poola as speaker of the state House of Assembly as an impersonator.

Read the full statement issued by Kwara Must Change on the issue below:

“The attention of Kwara Must Change has been drawn to a statement of impersonation by one Abiola Faronbi, who claimed to be endorsing Hon. Saheed Poola for the position of speaker in the Kwara State House of Assembly under a non-existing group he described as Kwara Must Change Forum.

”We totally condemn the impersonation of Kwara Must Change by this desperate character.

”It is a known fact, that there is no group known as Kwara Must Change Forum. That shady name was recently created to impersonate our group, Kwara Must Change in a desperate attempt to misconstrue our position on the matter of Kwara Speakership, which will by the grace of God, go to Kwara North as fairness dictates.

”Our position is very clear and unambiguous on the position of speaker and we have stated it repeatedly that our support is for Kwara North and Kwara North alone. It is important to note that, Kwara Must Change is a pro-democracy group which stands for fairness and justice and for no reason would we depart from this position on the basis of political correctness.

”Let it be clear that Kwara Must Change is for Kwara North as far as the speakership position is concerned and we will always be for Kwara North. We are opposed to any move geared towards denying Kwara North what rightfully belongs to them.

”Hon Saheed Popoola is a respected figure whom we hold in high esteem, but his quest to usurp the speakership position from the rightful people in total neglect for the principle of fairness will hurt him more than anyone else in the future. In his own interest, we advise him to retrace his steps and back down.

”This attitude of the powerful and influential, using their privilege to cheat on the weak and less powerful, to our understanding is a
Bukola Saraki style that we must never allow to take the centre stage in a liberated Kwara and should Hon. Saheed Popoola decides to become another Bukola Saraki, he may eventually end up like him. We do not want this to happen to Hon Saheed, hence the advice. Those around him may not be courageous enough to tell him the truth, but we owe him nothing but the truth.

”Kwara Must Change would like to state again that we do not know any Abiola Faronbi and neither does the organisation he claimed to belong to exist, it is an impersonation of Kwara Must Change and we would advise him Mr Abiola to desist from impersonating Kwara Must Change.

”We would like to also add that, Since 1999 till date, all speakers of the Kwara State House of Assembly are first time members. So, Kwara Must Change support for Kwara North to produce speaker is not only right and proper on the basis of fairness and equity, it is also right inline with the history of our democratic practice in the 4th Republic.

”All over the country, the 3 major positions are usually shared among the 3 senatorial districts and this means that, if Kwara Central have the governor, Kwara South has deputy governor, the third position, which is the speaker should automatically go to the third district, which is Ķwara North and there’s no rule that said only a second term member should be speaker. Such rule do not exist, at least in Kwara State and the history of speakership in the state can testify to this.

”Hon. Benjamin Isah was a first timer when he became Speaker of KWHA, Hon. Ibrahim Bio Isa was a first timer, his successor from Kwara
South, Hon. Balogun was a first timer, Hon. Rasaq Atunwa was first timer and the current speaker of Kwara State House of Assembly, Hon
Ali Ahmad is also a first timer.

”In the history of Kwara State in this 4th Republic, there has never been a debate over whether or not first term or second term member
should be speaker and that argument should not be happening now.

”For us, it is unthinkable for anyone from Kwara South to be nursing the ambition of becoming speaker, knowing fully well that Kwara South already has the deputy governor, party chairman and even the current minister.

”We, therefore, appeal to all stakeholders to support Kwara North to ensure there’s balance and equity.