Traditional rulers in Irepodun local government area of Kwara state on Wednesday threw their weight behind the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq ahead of the March 9th governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections.
The monarchs said this in Ajase-Ipo, ancestral headquarters of Irepodun local government area when AbdulRazaq resumed a fresh campaign tour of the southern senatorial district.
Speaking on behalf of Olomu of Omu Aran, chairman of Royal Council in Irepodun, AbdulRahm Oladele Adeoti, said: “We started the APC revolution here in the south and there’s no going back. You are going to win a landslide victory in the election.”
Abdulrazaq said that his administration will be fair to all segments of the state. “Our government won’t discriminate against any section of Kwara. We’ll share jobs and appointments fairly,” AbdulRazaq said at the palace of Alofa of Iloffa, Oba Samuel Dada where several traditional rulers in the region met him.
The candidate presented copies of his manifesto to the traditional leaders and community leaders.
Urging Kwarans to give him a chance to serve them, AbdulRazaq said his administration will open up the rural areas for development to boost investments in agriculture, agro-processing factories, provide employment for youths and halt rural-urban exodus.
He promised to rebuild public schools and hospitals, strengthen entrepreneurship and small scale businesses in a bid to boost internally generated revenues.
AbdulRazaq also pledged to accord utmost respect to the traditional institutions and ensure that local government areas are allowed to serve the grassroots.
“But to do this, we urge you to vote for APC. We don’t want to be in the opposition in Kwara. We have a lot of great programmes for our people. Importantly, we won’t disrespect our traditional institutions. We will honour our royal fathers,” he said.
“We’ve had enough of bad governance and the bleeding of public resources. O TO GE. Let’s try something new and different. Our opponents have run out of ideas. We’ll bring development. We’ll take special interest in the security of lives and properties. At the moment, there’s hardly any functional banks from Ekiti to Offa.
“Where there’s no banking institution, development will be hard whether you are into saw mailing or agriculture,” he added.
The tour had seen him visit Ekiti, Isin, Oke Ero and Irepodun local government areas of the state.
He also made a campaign stop at parts of Ifelodun and Irepodun local government areas on Wednesday.