By Bushrah Yusuf-Badmus
The Kwara Integrity Movement (KIM) has kicked against zoning the 2027 governorship race in the state to any senatorial district.
KIM Chairman, Alhaji Ibrahim Oniwara, in a news conference in Ilorin, said it was high time Kwara rose above the limitations of primordial politics to uphold competency and merit.
He said the state must reject the outdated philosophy that leadership should be determined by birthplace rather than competence.
According to him, leadership must emerge from merit, vision, capacity and character.
Oniwara said the news conference was not born out of sentiments or sectional biases, but of a deep commitment to truth, equity and the people’s long-term well-being.
“The agitation for zoning raises fundamental questions that Kwara residents must ask boldly: ‘For whom is the zoning agitation being championed’?
“Is zoning being presented as compensation or entitlement? Is it genuinely for the people of Kwara North or for the personal ambition of a few?
“Leadership is not inherited, power is not donated or served a la carte; it is earned through persuasion, credibility and service,” he said.
The chairman noted that the narrative that Kwara had ever practised zoning was false.
According to him, the state’s democratic experience has shown an open, inclusive and competitive political field where all senatorial districts freely contest.
“We are not advancing entitlement politics, not calling for automatic rotation and not demanding exclusive rights for any zone.
“Our position is simple, principled and patriotic, and Kwara deserves the best candidate, regardless of senatorial district.
“Let every qualified person contest and let the people decide their leader,” he said.
Oniwara also decried the coercion of traditional rulers into partisan politics.
He stated that the travelling of revered Emir and Oba across the state for political lobbying and advocacy should be avoided.
He noted that the traditional rulers represent a revered institution that must be insulated from partisan politics.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that KIM is a group of like-minded ‘Kwarans’ across the state’s three senatorial districts. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Moses Solanke
