Ilorin Union Apologises to Emir Over Disruption of Conference; New President Named

From Wole Adedeji, Ilorin
Diverse reactions are still trailing the Christmas day disruption  of the 53rd Annual Conference of Ilorin Emirate Development Union (IEDPU) at the Emir’s palace.
IEDPU, an umbrella body of all socio-cultural organizations in Ilorin traditionally holds annual conferences on December 25 every year drawing delegates from its indigenes across the globe.
The disruption which occurred right in front of Alhaji Sulu Ibrahim Gambari was considered an open insult on the institution of the monarchy.
Politicians particularly of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) whose supporters engaged in an open scuffle that disrupted the event continue to trade blames.
Meanwhile,  Alhaji Yahaya Ahmed has been named the Acting President of the IEDPU. He replaces Ambassador Shekh AbdulAzeez who has been tipped for a political appointment at the instance of Dr. Bukola Saraki, the Senate President.
He is among the 12 nominees recently penciled down for membership of the National Assembly Service Commission.
Ahmed, the first National Vice president of IEDPU, was sworn in Thursday during the 2018 working session of the union held at Afon, headquarters of Asa Local Government Area of the state.
Ahmed, in his acceptance speech, solicited the support and cooperation of all indigenes of llorin as well as other stakeholders to enable him succeed in his new assignment.
Meanwhile, a communiqué issued at the end of the working session of the union expressed dismay at the abrupt end of the opening ceremony of the 53rd annual conference of the union held at the palace of the Emir of Ilorin, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, on Tuesday.
The lEDPU, while apologizing to the Emir, over the incident appealed to security agents to ensure prompt response to such unfortunate incidents in future to check a recurrence.
It cautioned politicians against inflammatory utterances capable of overheating the polity ahead of the 2019 general elections.
The lEDPU also frowned at what it described as the decay in infrastructure in various educational institutions across the state and called on the state government to urgently address this.
The union further appealed to the Federal Government to establish a Federal College of Education in the state to replace the one in Okene, which is now in Kogi State.