A former senator, Gbemisola Saraki, has signified her interest to vie for the Kwara State governorship election in February 2015 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
She disclosed this in a letter to the state chairman of the party and its Elders Committee, saying she decided to contest after state-wide consultations, which she said took her several months.
Not particularly a newcomer to governorship elections, Ms. Saraki took a shot at the Kwara Government House in 2011 on the platform of the relatively unknown Allied Congress Party of Nigeria, ACPN, with the blessing of her late father and strongman of Kwara politics, Dr. Olusola Saraki, but was defeated by the incumbent, Abdulfatah Ahmed, who ran on the ticket of the PDP with the active support of her elder brother and then governor, Dr. Bukola Saraki.
Mr. Ahmed has since followed his political godfather in defecting to the All Progressives Congress, APC, on which platform he is eyeing re-election come 2015.
In her “letter of intent” dated October 2, Ms. Saraki said: “I have the pleasure to inform you that after several months of statewide consultations, I have resolved to contest for the position of the governor of Kwara State under the platform of our great party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the 2015 General Elections.
“This decision is informed, on the one hand, by calls by family members, friends and several thousands of members of our party who are convinced about my capacity to lead the state out of its present state of hopelessness and stagnation which the ruling party has deliberately thrown it into.
“On the other hand, it is informed by the positive reactions received so far from majority of elders and stakeholders of our party, and other members of the public during my statewide consultations.
“Thus, in obedience to their clarion calls, and a personal conviction that Kwara State can be better governed, I have decided to offer myself to the service of the good people of Kwara State”.
The former senator, stated that as an aspirant, she was under no illusion that the stakes were high.
“But I also know that we face an electorate that has been exhausted by broken promises, bad governance, collapse infrastructure, an ailing economy, and a host of other problems that seem to defy solutions.
“But with God on our side, and the unalloyed support of our party, I believe I would bring my experience and connection to bear to salvage our dear state from the brink of collapse”, she said.
She assured the party leadership that she was committed to free, fair and transparent primaries among her co-aspirants in the PDP.
While hailing the decision of the party to exempt female aspirants in the state from paying the mandatory minimum levy of N500, 000, Ms. Saraki, however, noted that she had contributed more than that amount to its progress.
Information Nigeria recalls that Ms. Saraki was a member of the House of Representatives between 1999 and 2003 on the platform of the defunct All Peoples Party, APP, before she defected to the PDP, where she was elected to the Senate for two terms.
i advise this woman to go and get marry look after her husband and children and allow the people of kwara to leave in peace.