The Governor of Kwara State, Abdulfatah Ahmed, has spoken on the speculations that he may soon dump the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, for the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
The governor also addressed the claim that he is being ‘pocketed’ by his predecessor and now President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki.
Ahmed said moving to the APC in 2015, was a collective decision, adding that it would not be his decision alone to cross over to the PDP.
On the relationship between him and Senator Saraki, the governor told Punch, “I was part and parcel of the administration (of Bukola Saraki) when he was here as governor. I was part and parcel of the economic team.
“I was part and parcel of the planning team and I was part and parcel of articulating the programme that would see the development of Kwara from point A to point B , employing all available resources.
“So , it was only natural that when I was coming on board , it would be foolhardy for me to say I want to run the state without getting input from him or others who have input to give because governance is about taking ideas from people.
“So , the issue of pocketing or not pocketing; it ’s not a private business, it ’s not Abdulfatah Nigeria Limited, it ’s the business of Kwara and Kwarans have been input providers in getting us to the current level.
“For him, he can only serve as a guide to us because whether we like it or not , he ’s had that experience . Whoever is coming in tomorrow as governor, will necessarily listen to me if he truly wants to see some things achieved because I’ve gone through this experience and there is no substitute for experience
On defecting to the main opposition party, Ahmed added, “Don ’t forget that because we run an inclusive process , it ’s not about the leadership , it ’s about the following and the following defines the direction they want us to go in because the followers’ decision is based largely on what their expectations are.
“If they insist that they want us to remain, we remain ; if they want us to go, we go, and it will be based on their inputs. Don ’t forget, it ’s an inclusive house, which allows for decision- making to be done inclusively and has since informed the way and manner decisions are taken.
“When we were in the PDP and had to move to the APC , it was an inclusively designed programme and it ’s not like you are herding cattle and just move on and direct them to move to a particular direction; no, it ’s inclusively done.
“Inputs are taken from ward level on why changes need to happen at that time but as it is today, we are comfortable where we are and we’ve not seen the basis for moving out from where we are today.”
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