Community leaders in Ilorin Emirate, Kwara State rose in defence of a former Governor of the State and Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Environment and Ecology, Dr. Bukola Saraki, over what it termed spurious allegations levelled against him by Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark.
Saraki was described by the community leaders as the anointed political leader of the state, warning Chief Clark against further disparaging comments on the federal lawmaker.
While briefing journalists at the NUJ press centre, Ilorin on Thursday, the Ilorin Emirate Elders’ Forum, led by the Magaji Nda of Ilorin, Alhaji Salihu Woru Muhammed, cautioned Chief Clark to stop what they described as campaigns of calumny against Saraki.
They reasoned that Clark’s recent comments on Saraki did not show that he (Clark) was a true friend of the late political icon of Kwara State, Dr. Olusola Saraki, as being claimed by him in the series of interviews he granted in the media.
The group, while warning Clark to steer clear of Kwara State politics, posited: “Nothing concerns Chief Clark about Kwara and he should stop dabbling into the affairs of Kwara because we Kwarans thank God for giving us our leader, Senator Bukola Saraki.
“We want to tell you that all the bad name Clark called Saraki will not stop Kwarans from supporting him because this is the man that has improved the socio well being of Kwarans in his eight years of governance and it is high time Chief Clark stops all these campaigns of calumny against Saraki.
“Senator Bukola Saraki has played a major role in the crowning of President Goodluck Jonathan as a two-term chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum.
“Senator Saraki also played a formidable role to untie the political nut preceding the inauguration of President Jonathan and secondly in the politicking and the election that got President Jonathan into full restroom of power.
“Chief Clark’s claim to be a friend of the late Waziri of Ilorin, Dr. Olusola Saraki, existed only on his lips.
“We can tell you that he was never a friend but a traitor because when Waziri died, he never came to condole with us in the state.
” All Mogajis, Alanguas, sons and daughters of Ilorin both at home and abroad are solidly behind Saraki because he is a true son of Ilorin”.
The group added: “If election is contested 100 times in Kwara State, Senator Bukola Saraki and his team will win with a landslide victory and this is not the same for Chief Clark in Delta State where he claims to be a political leader.”
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