LG Polls: Kwara Woos Aggrieved Candidates
From Tunde Sanni in Ilorin
Kwara State government weekend dangled carrots to the eight aggrieved chairmanship candidates who recently lost out at the Local Government Election Tribunal as it appealed to them to drop their militant posture and come for dialogue.
The tribunal, headed by Justice Banji Orilonise last week struck out the suit filed by the aggrieved members against the March 27 local government election in the state following the ruling of an appellate court that the issue before the tribunal was an intra party affair.
The candidates through the national secretariat of their party, PDP had dragged the Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission (KWSIEC) to the tribunal claiming that they were shortchanged in the compilation of the final lists for the March 23 polls by the electoral body.
Reacting to the ruling in a chat with newsmen, Commissioner of Information and Home Affairs, Alhaji Raheem Adedoyin expressed the happiness of government on the outcome of the case.
The ruling, the commissioner noted, will afford the government to set in motion a reconciliatory machinery aimed at harmonising the eight aggrieved candidates and other aggrieved members of the party into the mainstream.
He said while the suit was at the tribunal, Governor, Bukola Saraki made efforts to extend an olive branch to the aggrieved party members without success.
"We are happy now to inform those of them still willing to come back to do so and they are welcome because we have a large heart."
Adedoyin said the elected officials at the local governments were legitimate and called on every party member to cooperate with the state to achieve its developmental agenda.
He regretted the series of propaganda that trailed the activities of the party while the case was pending adding, "there were series of propaganda and attempts by some people to portray the government in bad light. People went as far as denigrating the government by going outside the purview of the political disagreements."
He maintained that the suspended state chairman of the party, Alhaji Abubakar Zubair never took the party to court as alleged and expressed the hope that the national leadership of the party will listen to his plea and reinstate him as chairman of the party.
"He never took the party to court. He was taken to court by some of these aggrieved aspirants and had to respond to the case."
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