Religious leaders in Ilorin emirate endorse Saraki as political leader

       

Religious leaders in Ilorin emir­ate at the week­end endorsed the Chairman of Senate Committee on Environ­ment and Ecology, Bukola Saraki, as the political leader of Kwara State.

This followed an open declaration made by the Chief Imam of Ilorin, Sheikh Muhammad Bashir Salihu.

Traditional rulers in the emirate, under the aegis of the Magaji and Alanguas Forum, had recently en­dorsed Saraki as the new political leader of the state following the death of his father, Dr. Abubakar Olu­sola Saraki, in November 2012.

Salihu, while leading a special prayer session in Ilorin, Kwara State capital, to mark the third year in office of Saraki as senator representing Kwara Central District at the National as­sembly, described the for­mer governor of the state as God’s chosen leader for the people of the state.

The chief imam, who ac­knowledged Saraki’s giant strides in the development of the state during his eight years as governor, urged all peace-loving people to ac­cept him as God’s chosen political leader of the state in the interest of develop­ment of the state.

He prayed Allah to con­tinue to bestow on the lawmaker, the wisdom and sound health required to move the state to greater heights.

In his lecture, an Ilorin-based Islamic cleric, Alhaji Abdulrasaq Adugba, ad­monished political office holders not to betray their people for selfish interests when taking political deci­sions, warning that there was high level of awareness among the electorate.

He also urged political office holders in the state in particular to imbibe the vir­tues of kindness, generosity, sincerity and love for the people as demonstrated by the late strongman of Kwara politics, Oluola Saraki, dur­ing his life time.

The cleric, however, charged the governed to al­ways have respect for their leaders, including tradition­al and religious leaders, for peace to continue to reign supreme.