Kwara Central Senatorial Slot: Group makes case for Ilorin East/ South Constituency
By Stephen Olufemi Oni, Ilorin
Concerned residents of Kwara Central Senatorial District have made a strong case for the zoning of the district’s senatorial seat to Ilorin East/Ilorin South constituency ahead of the 2023 general elections in the interest of justice, equity and fair play.
Operating under the aegis of Ilorin West Concerned Members, the residents lamented that it is only the Asa/Ilorin West constituency that has produced all the senators from the Kwara central since the return of the nation to democratic rule in 1999.
They said there is the need to cede the senatorial seat to Ilorin East/ Ilorin South constituency in the new dispensation in order to ensure fairness and equitable distribution of political offices between the two constituencies that make up Kwara central.
Addressing newsmen in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, spokesman of the group, a former Ilorin West local government chairman, AbdulHameed Ali, urfed the leaderships of the two major political parties in the state, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to zone their Kwara central senatorial tickets to Ilorin East/ Ilorin South constituency.
He said: “In the past couple of weeks, there has been a major outcry by some residents, leaders of thought and stakeholders in the Kwara central senatorial district spotlighting the marginalisation of other local government areas by the political class in Ilorin West local government area.
“For the record, since 1999 the Kwara Central Senatorial seat has been occupied by political gladiators from Ilorin West. Ordinarily, there ought to be a system that controls equitable and fair access to public offices but in the absence of any, we demand that the seat ahead of 2023 should be immediately zoned to either Ilorin East or Ilorin South and to be subsequently rotated among the four local government areas comprising the senatorial district.”