Durbar: C’ttee bows to pressure, drops Saraki, Baraje, PDP chieftain from invitees’ list over protest from Gov Abdulrazaq

By Mumini AbdulKareem

The second edition of the Ilorin Grand Durbar scheduled to hold next Monday in Ilorin was last night a subject of high wire politics as top members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who are indigenes of the emirate have been surprisingly excluded from the event after invitation was earlier extended to them by the Durbar Committee, National Pilot, can reliably report.
The new twist to the development, it was gathered, followed protest by Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq and the All Progressives Congress (APC) senators and other stakeholders who complained bitterly about the composition of guests in the initial invites to be distributed.
Top members of the PDP who have since been dropped by the committee include former governor of Kwara State and immediate past Senate President, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki, former PDP Acting National Chairman, Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Bareje and former minister of National Planning, Prof. Abubakar Olarenwaju Suleiman who was recently appointed Director General of National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS).
To this end, the committee has reportedly printed another invitation to reflect the latest development.
The two invitations were exclusively obtained by this reporter last night.
In the first invitation, Saraki as Special Guest of Honour was recognised as one of the highest invitees for the event slated to take place at the front of the Emir’s palace, a day after Sallah. Baraje and Prof Suleiman were both designated as Guest of Honours.
Investigation by this reporter also revealed that the Senate President have been replaced with the Wali of Ilorin, Alhaji Usman Mustapha who is the father to a former gubernatorial aspirant of the APC, Alhaji Moshood Mustapha.
Also, the name of the ministerial nominee, Senator Gbemisola Saraki which was absent in the first invite made its way into the second as one of the chairmen of the occasion.
A very reliable Government House source who is conversant with the matter told this reporter that the Governor and party stalwarts complained about Saraki.
“Their grouse was that the former Senate President should not be allowed such high status to participate in the durbar ceremony under the APC government after his defeat in the last  general elections.
“They were of the opinion that people like Baraje and Prof Abubakar who were earlier invited were Saraki’s allies and should be dropped from the list of invitees”, the source who asked not to be named for fear of victimisation submitted.
When contacted on Sunday, the Secretary of Ilorin Emirate Council, Alhaji Ismail Lawal said he was not aware of the matter adding that he is not in a position to comment.
“I don’t know much about it. Maybe you should speak with the chairman of the committee. He will be in a position to throw more light on it”, Lawal added.
In an interview with this reporter, the Chairman of the Ilorin Grand Durbar Committee, Engr. Suleiman Alapansanpa declined comment when asked whether Saraki and other PDP leaders in the state have been delisted from the invitation.
In his reaction to the issue late last night, Governor Abdulrazaq who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Rafiu Ajakaye, claimed Durbar is not a government event adding that his principal will never engage in anything outside his mandate as governor.
“The Durbar is not a government event. So, the Governor has not protested to anyone about who is invited or not invited to the Durbar. Anyone making such allegation should bring the letter of protest written by the Governor.
“For the record, this Governor has been elected to serve the people of Kwara State. He has the responsibility of returning Kwara back to reckoning after many years of misadministration and plundering. He spends his time entirely trying to develop the state. You won’t see him engaging in anything that is outside his mandate as Governor. The Durbar, which is purely a social event, doesn’t fall under his mandate. So, he knows nothing about any protest”, he submitted.
Meanwhile, efforts to get the reaction of the Director General of ABS Mandate Office, Alhaji Musa Abdullahi proved abortive, last night.
But a member of the Saraki dynasty who agreed to speak on the issue anonymously decried the politicisation of the issue adding that this is an injustice to the former Senate President.
“I hate injustice and it is very disturbing for an issue like this to be decided in the realm of politics. Saraki was one of the highest donors in the first edition as he doled out a whooping N20million. He was invited alongside other party members and the way the event went, there were no issues at all as everybody dropped the toga of politics to answer the call of the community.
“With this action, are they saying Saraki is no more from Ilorin simply because he has lost election considering his huge contributions to the cause of the emirate. This is nothing but injustice and I think there is need for proper appraisal of this action. Even if the politicians want to use the durbar to settle political scores, the committee and even the palace has the duty and obligation to make the APC leaders understand that this a social-cultural event that is meant to bring all sons and daughters of Ilorin together irrespective of political affiliations, religion, tribe and ethnicity. Saraki as the Waziri of Ilorin is equivalent to the Prime Minister of the community. Frankly, this should give every indigene of Ilorin great concern. I am not saying Saraki is a saint, but politics should not be taken this far. It is Bukola Saraki today, who knows whose turn it will be tomorrow”, he added.
Saraki’s impending drop from the durbar invitation had been a subject of social media argument last week with the report that the former Senate President might not be on seat on that day.
Some of the posers raised in online report include; “Should Durbar get stained by politics? Is Saraki less an Ilorin man now and whether losing political (office) denies one of traditional authorities as Chieftain?