Kwara ex-commissioner alleges political betrayal, vows to reclaim PDP senatorial mandate

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Rotimi Illiasu, former Commissioner for Works and Transport in Kwara State, has explained why he approached the court to challenge ...

Rotimi Illiasu, former Commissioner for Works and Transport in Kwara State, has explained why he approached the court to challenge the alleged withdrawal of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senatorial ticket for Kwara North from him.

Illiasu reportedly emerged as the PDP candidate for the January senatorial election following a primary election. However, months later, another aspirant, Kolo Jiya, was announced as the party’s candidate for the district.

Jiya’s emergence followed a political realignment between the PDP and aggrieved members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, who were dissatisfied with the conduct and outcome of their party’s primary elections.

As part of the negotiations, the PDP leadership reportedly conceded its senatorial tickets to some of the aggrieved APC members in exchange for their support for the party in the general election.

Speaking during an interview with members of the Kwara Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), at the weekend, Illiasu said he approached the court to seek justice because he was unwilling to surrender a mandate he legitimately won through an election.

He explained that when he was persuaded to relinquish the ticket, as reportedly done by his counterparts in the Kwara Central and South senatorial districts, he declined because the circumstances surrounding their emergence were different from his.

According to him, he contested and won the PDP senatorial primary conducted in Kwara North, and his victory through a democratic process earned him the party’s ticket.

He said the candidates who were given the tickets in the other two senatorial districts did not emerge through competitive primaries but were selected through consensus arrangements, with the understanding that their positions could subsequently be reviewed.

Illiasu maintained that while the other candidates allegedly held their tickets as placeholders, he won his outright through an election and, therefore, could not be…

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