Governor Abdullahi extends an olive branch to rivals after court victory

Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi (right) consults with Wajir Senator Sheikh Abass during County leaders meeting in Nairobi. [Edwin Nyarangi, Standard]

Wajir Governor Ahmed Abdullahi has pledged to work with all elected leaders in his county for the sake of development after winning an election petition in the High Court in Nairobi on Friday.

Abdullahi, who held a meeting with elected leaders from the region in a Nairobi Hotel, said that the affirmation of his win by the High Court has given him the impetus to work for the area residents to the best of his abilities for the next five years.

The Governor who is the Council of Governors Vice Chairperson is serving a second term in office having first been elected in 2013 using the ODM Party ticket but lost the election to former Governor Mahmoud Abdi before bouncing back in the August 2022 general election.

"I would like to ask all elected leaders in Wajir County to join hands with me since our region has got more problems with devastating drought situations, instead of fighting each other we should look into ways of saving our people from the calamities they are facing," said Abdullahi.

The Governor pledged to work closely with Senator Sheikh Abass and County MP Fatuma Jehow among other elected leaders saying that he would not like to see the conflict witnessed during the regime of his predecessor which affected service delivery.

Abdullahi extended an olive branch to his rival in the last election Hassan Adam who challenged his election win claiming that there were several irregularities before Justice George Dulu who heard the petition in Nairobi dismissed it ruling that the governor was validly elected.

Deputy Governor Ahmed Abdi said that while it was within the rights and prerogative of the petitioner to seek justice, a judgment was reached on Friday in the favor of the people of Wajir County and it is now time to move on since the court verdict has vindicated their win.

"I am calling on the residents of Wajir County to rally behind Governor Ahmed Abdillahi who has good plans to turn around the lives of the people for the better for the next five years, let us all put aside our ethnic divisions which have hampered service delivery," said Abdi.

Wajir Senator Sheikh Abass said that he would work with Abdillahi while exercising his oversight role to ensure that funds allocated to the county are put into proper use since the region has several needs that have remained unattended to for decades.

Wajir County MP Fatuma Jehow said the past six months have been tough for the area residents especially with the severe drought asking the Governor to concentrate on serving the people now that the election petition was behind asking him not to discriminate against area residents.

Eldas MP Adan Keynan called on all elected leaders from the county notwithstanding their party affiliations to forge a united front as they champion the interests of the area residents who have high hopes for them.

Tarbaj MP Hussein Bare asked the governor to prioritise the key needs of the area residents and ensure that they are attended to as soon as possible since the area residents wanted development.