By Demola Akinyemi

Ilorin—Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State has explained that his defection from the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, was a script hatched and perfected by fifth columnists within the party.

The governor dropped this hint in Ilorin when he received National Executive of Oro Descendants Union, ODU, led by its President, Alhaji Uthman Tunji Balogun, who paid him a courtesy call at Government House.

Ahmed told his visitors that he reluctantly dumped the APC when it became obvious that the people of the state “who delivered a 100 per cent electoral victory to the APC are continuously being marginalised and persecuted.”

According to him, all entreaties to ensure that the people of Kwara State are treated with dignity, equity and justice fell on deaf ears as a result of those rooting for their personal relevance by marginalising other stakeholders.

“If it were for personal gains, I wouldn’t have left the APC as a sitting governor. The Senate President would also have been contented with the coveted position of the Senate President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he said.

Ahmed said the struggle was about the interests of Kwarans to participate effectively and meaningfully in the growth and development of Nigeria.

According to him, “leaving the APC goes beyond self-interests but the inability to create opportunities for Kwarans in an administration we laboured to put in place.”

The PDP, according to the governor, is a reformed and inclusive party that provides an enabling platform for members to actualise their potentials.

Earlier in his address, National President, Oro Descendants Union, Alhaji Balogun, commended Governor Ahmed for his bold attempts to change the face of the state through the provision of infrastructure and amenities capable of improving the standard of living of the people.

Balogun, on behalf of the nine communities that make up the Oro kingdom, expressed appreciation to the governor for his prompt response to their call to upgrade Kwara State College of Education, Oro, to a degree awarding institution, construction of Oloro Palace and the rehabilitation of Okeola- Oro / Ijomu – Oro road, among others.