Iliasu heads to court over alleged substitution of Kwara North senatorial candidate

By Mosunmola Ayobami, Ilorin

A former Kwara State Commissioner for Works, Housing and Transport, Engineer Rotimi Iliasu, has said he approached the court to seek justice over the alleged substitution of his name as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate for Kwara North Senatorial District.

Iliasu said he decided to challenge the alleged substitution because he believed he had won the party’s senatorial primary and could not betray the trust of delegates who voted for him.

He spoke on Saturday while featuring on News Keg, an interactive programme organised by the Correspondents’ Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Kwara State Council.

The 45-year-old politician from Moro Local Government Area said his ambition to become a role model for youths in the district and the state was shattered when the party leadership allegedly substituted his name.

However, Iliasu argued that the primary election had demonstrated the unity among people of Kwara North, contrary to perceptions that the district lacked political cohesion.

He said delegates from Edu, Lafiagi, Baruten and Patigi supported his ambition, adding that their votes showed that the people of the district could unite behind a common political choice.

The former commissioner also recalled that Moro Local Government Area last produced a member of the National Assembly in 1999, expressing his desire to represent the area and insisting that he would not speak against the district because he remained a stakeholder. He said he joined the PDP after becoming dissatisfied with the way things were handled in the All Progressives Congress (APC).

On reports that anti-corruption agencies had invited him for questioning, Iliasu denied receiving any invitation over alleged mismanagement of public funds, insisting that he had never been questioned by any such agency.