2015 and Kwara govs town hall meeting ilorin.info/fullnews.php?id=11186 The clock is ticking and the appointed time is fast approaching for the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State to pick its governorship candidate for the 2015 general elections and thus set the political agenda for control of Ahmadu Bello Way Government House. As the camps of the two main political parties- the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and APC in the state, many of the aspirants have been jostling for support among their people towards actualising their ambition. Nigerian Tribune investigations revealed that many of the aspirants have intensified consultations among the stakeholders, just as they are enticing their supporters with welfare packages, particularly during Ramadan festival in all parts of the state. In his own attempt at securing second term, the governor of the state, Abdulfatah Ahmed, has constituted a committee comprising of members of his executive council and others in his cabinet to organise town hall meeting and sensitise the electorate ahead of the 2015 election and prepare their minds to work for his re-election, if the APC allows him to fly its flag for the election next year. It was gathered that the members of the committee have so far visited Osi, Iloffa, Share, Igbaja, OmuAran, and Esie, among other places, while they hope to visit all the major towns in the seven local government areas of Kwara South Senatorial district. The seven local governments are Isin, Oke-Ero, Ekiti, Irepodun, Ifelodun, Oyun and Offa. The chairman of the committee, who doubles as the state Finance Commissioner, Alhaji Demola Banu, in all the meetings, urged the poeple to ensure that they obtained their permanent voter cards to enable them vote for the candidate of their choice in 2015. He stressed that the card was the passport to demonstrate their strength as a people and tasked them to attach great significance to its collection when the time comes. At the meetings, virtually all the political office holders in the state took their time to address the crowd and clarify the activities of the government, particularly when a particular reference was being made by the stakeholders as to the inaction of the administration. Alhaji Banu also explained to the mammoth crowd how the administration had struggled to meet the needs and aspirations of the people, in spite of the reduction from monthly allocations from the Federal Accounts to the tune of about N1 billion since August last year. He urged the people of the to continue to pay their tax in order to assist the government in carrying out its functions. According to him, N100 million is being paid to pensioners monthly and N10 million as gratuity. He added that the monthly salaries and wages gulped N600 million, adding that workers across board were paid as and when due. If they continued to support the government, he said, more benefits would flow in for them. The audience at the meetings composed of those who usually form the bulk of the voters and for whom the message was expected to resonate. They included market men and women, youths associations, artisans, students, transporters, officials of the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), farmers, community development associations, no-political stakeholders, non- indigenes, officials of the Christian Association Nigeria (CAN), Imams, Fulanis, National Council of Women Societies (NCWS) and others. The high point of the meeting was made on the need to sensitise all the senatorial districts to ensure the people got their permanent voters card. The spokesperson of each of the associations and groups was asked to assess Governor Ahmeds performance. The feedback showed that there were areas the government was scored high, just as there were areas it was rated low. When asked to state specific areas they would want government to work harder to improve their lot, the aggregate of their demand was that they wanted the leadership of APC to represent Governor Ahmed for a second term because he had done well as their good ambassador and moreso that they also deserve the second term in Kwara South. At Omu-Aran Town Hall, Mr Joseph Bamidele, spokesperson of the Okada riders, commended the administration for reducing their units from 67 to seven units for easy management and for enabling them benefit from the governments scheme organised for okada riders. He commended the administration for tarring the roads in Aran Orin and the cooperative loans that are made available to them. Bamidele demanded that the government should also employ them into the civil service because majority of them are graduates, who took to the job of of riding motorcycles to eke out a living. The spokesman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in Omu Aran unit, Mr Niyi Awoyinka, commended the present administration for giving the union members slots to perform the holy pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. He asked the government to provide the union with buses, to enable members boost their transport business. Also, the chairman of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) in Irepodun Local Government Area of the state, Comrade Opatola, commended the present administration for the payment of teachers salaries on the 25th of every month and for not retrenching any teachers since its inception. - See more at: ilorin.info/fullnews.php?id=11186
Posted on: Tue, 29 Jul 2014 08:41:20 +0000
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