A former national chairman of People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje, said the attempt to subject Kwara state to a one-man rule like the southwest would be severely dealt with vehement rejection.
Baraje said this in a reaction to the adoption of a campaign slogan, Otoge, which literally means enough is enough in Yoruba dialect, by the people of the state, Daily Trust reports.
Legit.ng notes that political campaign has become extremely intense in Kwara state as the elections draw nearer with people planning to hijack the political hierarchy of the state from the Senate president, Bukola Saraki.
Registering his objection to the Otoge slogan, the former PDP national chairman opined that slogan and hate speeches cannot win an election, adding that subtle attempt to subject Kwara state to Southwest influence will not hold.
Baraje also added that those behind the present move were few “disgruntled and misguided” individuals who have no people behind them.
He said: “What wins election are the voters and electorate themselves. As far we are concerned, it is not strange to us and it is not strange to any community particularly Ilorin.
”In 1954, there was a similar attempt to cede Ilorin to the western and the southern part of Nigeria and the parlance that time was that awa Olo West (we are going to the west) and there was an opposite parlance of Awa olo West(we are not going to the west).”
He, however, expressed confidence in PDP winning the 2019 general elections with a landslide victory, and threw in his hat of support for the Senate president.
