Leaders, elders and indigenes of Moro Local Government Area of Kwara State have accused the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) of persistently marginalising the area in the distribution of elective political offices, urging the party to reverse what they described as an injustice by restoring the House of Representatives mandate allegedly won by a Moro aspirant during the party’s May 24 primary election.

Addressing journalists on Wednesday at the APC Kwara North Senatorial Office in Oyun, Moro Local Government Area, the group said Moro remains the only local government in Kwara North that has not produced a senator since Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999, despite its contributions to the political development of the district.

In a three-page statement, the group noted that by 2027, Kaiama, Baruten and Edu local government areas would each have produced senators for eight years, while Patigi would have occupied the seat for four years. Moro, it said, would still not have produced either a senator or a member of the House of Representatives.

The group also lamented that within the Edu/Moro/Patigi Federal Constituency, Edu and Patigi had produced members of the House of Representatives for 16 and 12 years respectively since 1999, while Moro had yet to occupy the position.

According to the statement, Moro has also never produced the Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly, a minister or a federal board chairman whenever such positions were allocated to Kwara North.

The group expressed disappointment over the outcome of the APC House of Representatives primary, alleging that a Moro aspirant who scored more than 20,400 votes in the election monitored by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was replaced with another aspirant from Edu Local Government Area, who allegedly polled 157 votes but was declared the party’s candidate for the 2027 general election.

It argued that with the APC’s senatorial candidate emerging from Patigi Local Government Area and the House of Representatives candidate from Edu, Moro had effectively been shut out of the two highest elective offices available to Kwara North in the 2027 elections.

The group said the development had left the people of Moro feeling betrayed despite what it described as their unwavering loyalty to the APC and sustained support for the Kwara North political agenda.
“We are not asking for charity. We are demanding fairness, equity, justice and recognition. Moro should no longer be treated as a second-class participant in the political affairs of Kwara North,” the group said.

The indigenes also criticised what they described as the lack of meaningful political inclusion beyond routine statutory appointments such as commissioners, special advisers and special assistants.
They lamented that some Moro aspirants resigned from the civil service to contest the primary election in compliance with electoral regulations, only to lose what they described as a legitimately earned mandate.

Warning that continued exclusion could deepen political alienation and underdevelopment in the local government, the group appealed to the APC leadership at both the state and national levels to address what it described as an injustice by recognising Moro’s victory in the House of Representatives primary.

The group urged the people of Moro to remain peaceful while pursuing their demand for equitable representation, insisting that justice should not be sacrificed for political expediency.
“It is time to give Moro its rightful place in the political equation of Kwara North. Justice delayed should not become justice denied,” the statement said.

The statement was jointly signed by Mustapha Kabir (Omo Nma), former Chairman of Moro Local Government, Alhaji Tunde Yusuf, former Special Adviser to the Governor, Hajia Aisat Issa, former Supervisor, Elder James Ajao, and former member of the Kwara State House of Assembly, Hon. Emmanuel T. Bello.