The 1gbomina Forum, the socio-cultural pressure group of the 1gbomina of Kwara State has thrown its weight behind the candidature of Alhaji AbdulFatah Ahmed, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governorship candidate in Kwara State in next month’s elections.

Rising from a meeting in Lagos, the Forum said after a painstaking study of the leading contenders, vis-a-vis the interest of the Igbomina, Kwara South Senatorial district and Kwara State in general, it came to the conclusion that Ahmed stands shoulders high over other contenders.

The President and Secretary of the Forum, Rotimi Afolayan Jejeloye and Ademola Adedoyin, respectively said “Having critically examined all the candidates contending for the governorship post in the state, we feel obliged to give our support to Alhaji Ahmed.

In the interest of equity and justice, we urge Kwarans to vote for him. We see his candidature as a true representation of equity and justice and above all, he is the most acceptable by the people.”

The Igbomina Forum, a pressure group founded to protect and defend the interest of Igbomina both at home and in the diaspora, had in the past, stridently made a strong case for power shift, consistently arguing that it is not equitable for one Senatorial Zone to continue to produce the governor at the expense of the two other zones in the state

The PDP in the state, apparently, in agreement with this position, agreed to a power shift by ensuring the victory of Ahmed, an Igbomina from Ifelodun Local Government Area of the state at the party’s Kwara State gubernatorial primaries held on January 9, 2011.

Igbomina Forum said, following some indepth study and analysis of the profiles of two Igbomina indigenes in the race i.e. Ahmed and Mr. Gbenga Olawepo of DPP it concluded that Ahmed be given all the support for the 2011 elections.

Kwara Central has produced the governor of the state since the commencement of the current political dispensation. While Rear Admiral Mohammed Alabi Lawai, rtd, ruled from 1999 to 2003, Dr Bukola Saraki, also from Kwara Central has been Governor of the state since 2003.