By Jerrywright Ukwu

John Dara, a former presidential candidate, has endorsed Yakubu Danladi, the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Kwara, describing him as one of the state’s most-educated politicians and a leader with the experience to govern.

Speaking in an interview on Trust TV, Dara said Danladi possesses the academic credentials, leadership qualities and political experience required to lead the state.

Dara was the presidential candidate of the National Transformation Party (NTP) in 2011 and the Alliance for Social Democrats (ASD) in 2019.

“Danladi is old enough to be president of Nigeria, not even governor. He has enough experience,” he said.

Dara noted that the APC candidate is among the most academically accomplished politicians in the state.

“First of all, let me establish the fact that Danladi is one of the best educated governors that we will end up having in the history of Kwara state,” he said.

“Many people just hear the speaker. Danladi had his OND and HND in engineering, then he had a first degree and a second degree in engineering and a master’s degree in engineering; he went on to have another master’s degree in peacebuilding. That’s interesting,” he said.

He described Danladi as a calm personality capable of bringing together aggrieved stakeholders.

“He’s a very calm personality, and therefore I believe that at the end of the day all those who are aggrieved now, they will find that he is a very pleasant person to work with,” he said.

Dara said although Danladi is younger than many established politicians in Kwara, he had acquired valuable grassroots political experience before contesting elective office.

“Talking about political experience, he is relatively young when you compare him to some of us old horses in the politics of the state, but all the young people that some of us groomed, they were not contesting elections, but they were participating in the process; they were campaigning for their candidates, so they know the dynamics of politics at the grassroots level,” he said.

He said the APC candidate demonstrated his political strength by winning his first election and subsequently emerging as speaker of the state assembly.

“That’s why, not surprisingly, when he came into contest, it was his first time; he never lost; he won, and he didn’t stop at that; he went on to become the speaker of the state assembly,” he said.

Dara added that Danladi earned praise during his seven years as speaker for his leadership style and ability to prevent conflicts.

“In the seven years he has served now as speaker, the governor is full of praise for him about his ability to manage and to even prevent conflicts, not just managing conflicts when they arise. He’s very effective, and he is a bridge builder,” he said.

Source: TheCable