By Olufemi Oni, Ilorin

Former Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly and Professor of Constitutional Law, Ali Ahmad, has condemned what he described as ” the widespread irregularities, particularly shortage of sensitive materiels in several polling units across the State” during the last Saturday local government election orchestrated by the State Independent Electoral Commission.

This is as he lauded the resilience of all the Peoples Democratic Party’s Chairmanship and Councillorship candidates across the 16 local government areas and the 193 political wards, describing them as “heroes of democracy”.

The former Speaker, in a statement on Monday by the spokesman of his media office, Steve Makinde, eulogised all PDP members in the State for their peaceful conduct and commitment to salvaging the State from the grip of the ruling APC during the September 21, 2024, local government election despite the provocation by the KWSIEC”.

He said: “I am optimism about the real-time outcomes of last Saturday’s local government elections in Kwara State, and I know that the people aligned with PDP and its candidates across the 16 local government areas as well as the 193 political wards over the ruling APC at the polls based on the authentic results from our polling agents.”

Professor Ahmad also commended the Kwara PDP executives for their “high-level preparedness, resilience, and mobilisation efforts amid provocations from the ruling APC throughout the voting exercise. The resilience encouraged eligible voters to turn out in large numbers to support the party’s candidates at the polls”.

The professor of constitutional law noted that the actual election results from various polling units across the State reflected the overwhelming confidence Kwarans have in the PDP, while lamenting the unwarranted challenges faced during the elections, including irregularities by the State Independent Electoral Commission.

“Kwarans have always spoken through the ballots, but last Saturday’s local government elections in the State provided another avenue for eligible voters to express their overwhelming confidence in our great party, the PDP. To our dogged and ever conscious Chairmanship and Councillors candidates across the 16 local government areas and 193 political wards in the State, I salute your courage and good outings at the polls, no doubt you’re all the true heroes of the democracy Kwarans have been yearning for.

“If anyone still believes there is another way around elections than allowing the people’s will to prevail, it is high time such people woke up from their slumber and embraced the real-time realities of a one man, one vote democratic process. The people have spoken louder through the ballots, and we’ve heard them,” the former Speaker said.

The former Speaker also mentioned his participation in the Saturday elections, where he won his polling unit in a landslide with APC having only one vote,
highlighting the strong support for the PDP in his community, as evidenced by the results for both the Chairmanship and Councillorship ballots.

“Despite the glaring irregularities by the State Independent Electoral Commission amid insufficient and nonavailability of sensitive materials in some parts of the State during the Saturday elections, Kwarans, in their numbers, still trooped out to their various polling units to exercise their franchise by voting our party candidates across the board. That’s a strong signal that the people are tired of complaining and ready to join hands with our great party to bring the desired changes to the grassroots.”

During a tour of various polling units and the KWASIEC office in Pake, Prof. Ali Ahmad raised concerns about the choice of the collation centre and emphasised the importance of protecting the integrity of the electoral process.

“What is happening here today has never happened before. This is a local government election where every ward and local government has its designated collation centres to announce the real-time results from various polling units. As you can see, we are peaceful people, what we are saying is that our votes must be protected away from the reports of shenanigans allegedly happening at the homes of a serving state lawmaker and a commissioner of the Kwara government,” the former Speaker added.

The overwhelming crowds of Kwarans who took turns to hail the former Speaker during his tour of various polling units and the Pake office of KWASIEC “expressed confidence in his capability as a true servant-leader and true son of the soil in Ilorin South local government area of Kwara state”.

Professor Ahmad lauded the overwhelming support he received from the people and their “confidence in his leadership as a true community representative”.