Senator-elect for Kwara Central in the 9th Senate, Dr Ibrahim Yahaya Oloriegbe, yesterday boasted that his performance in the Senate within the next four years would surpass that put up by Senate president, Senator Bukola Saraki, in the last eight years.
Dr. Saraki currently represents Kwara Central in the 8th Senate and was defeated by Oloriegbe in the February 23 National Assembly election.
Oloriegbe, who spoke yesterday in Abuja after collecting his Certificate of Return from the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, said Saraki, despite attaining the position of Senate presidency in his sojourn in the Senate, has not set any standard of performance for any successor to study, let alone, meet.
According to him, Saraki by his brand of politics, focused more on national politics and not responsive and quality representation for Kwara Central people who are his constituents. A
He said: “It is God that gives and takes power from whosoever he wishes. I thank the Almighty Allah for granting me the grace of being overwhelmingly elected as senator for Kwara central in the coming 9th Senate .
“I have the pedigree of service to people and humanity as a trained medical doctor who has spent decades working with World Health Organization, WHO, and years on the political field also in rendering selfless service to people and humanity .
” I was the majority leader of Kwara State House of Assembly from 1999 to 2003 under the late Governor Muhammed Alabi Lawal .
“My focus in the Senate will squarely be on how to, by legislative engineering, quality and responsive representation , improve the lots of my people in Kwara Central and collaborate very effectively along with eight other federal lawmakers from the state with the state governor-elect, Abdulrahaman Abdulrasaq, in giving the state a new direction, with regards to wealth creation and genuine development.”
Also speaking, his counterpart from Kwara South, Architect Lola Ashiru, said the new set of elected political office holders in the state at whatever level, will collaborate to give the greatest good to the greater number of Kwarans in months to come.
He said: “We are aware of expectations on the ground and enormous challenges at hand but as people who are out to serve and not lord over electorate, Kwara will surely be better off with the change that had taken place in the state. We shall not disappoint Kwarans in anyway.”
However in his own comment at the joint interview session, the senator-elect from Kwara North , Umar Sadiq, said he had the strong conviction that marginalisation that had been the lots of the area in the past under successive governments, would be a thing of the past.
