Kwara APC Crisis: Party Chairman in showdown with Gov. Abdulrazaq over alleged N10m demand

…party keeps mum

By Mumini Abdulkareem

The internal crisis rocking the Kwara State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) after the 2019 general elections was recently blown open following an alleged faceoff between the party Chairman, Hon Bashiru Omolaja Bolarinwa and Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, National Pilot learnt, last night.
The clash, it was gathered, was over an alleged demand for the release of the sum of N10million by Bolarinwa from the Governor to enable party executives attend a North Central convention of the APC, in Abuja, recently.
Several attempts by Bolarinwa to have audience with Governor Abdulrazaq over the issue was said to have hit bricks wall.
Trouble started penultimate Monday when the state APC chairman reportedly attacked the Governor during a meeting in Ilorin with other party excos in attendance over his style of leadership and refusal to release funds for party activities.
The embittered chairman was said to have had another confrontation with the Governor last Tuesday at a reception in honour of the returned Information Minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
A top chieftain of the party in the state and the Chairman of a socio-political group, Orisun Igbomina, Chief Gbenga Awoyale, confirmed both incidents during a telephone chat with our reporter on Sunday.
It was learnt that there have been no love lost between the party chairman and the Governor since the inauguration of the APC government with accusation that he (Abdulrazaq) is deliberately sidelining key stakeholders in the party in the running of his government and dealings with the APC.
Several party sources who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to make official comment on the matter because of its sensitivity, said there have been a cold war between the Governor and several leaders of the party since his inauguration.
One of the sources said the APC chairman at a time was denied access to the Governor despite waiting for several hours at the presidential lodge.
Citing reasons for going public with the issue, Awoyale said he had made several attempts to speak with Bolarinwa over the issue privately to no avail, adding that what is at stake is not just about the party chairman but of concern every son and daughter of the Igbomina stock.
He said, “For those saying my action was to seek for position, I am a successful iron merchant and my engagement with the government is not about any portfolio. I was against the last government and was invited by the former governor and leadership of his party to join hands with them but I refused.
“If it was all about appointment, I would have collected it then and stop criticising them. This is not a personal issue and it was done for the party to have peace. Why should you be embarrassing the Governor of the state and yet the constitution of the party recognised the Governor as the leader of the party in the state.
“The Governor rejected their demand for money to go to Abuja for a programme, because he doesn’t want to spend Kwara resources like that and they are attacking him. Bolarinwa is of the Igbomina stock, if we don’t curb him early enough, it will affect others because people will be saying it’s an Igbomina man that started the trouble against the Governor.
“He (Bolarinwa) was imposed on us when we had no option then and yet he is the one that is not standing upright and anything he is saying will be tagged as coming from Igbomina. We suffered for this struggle.
“Those that are in the ‘18 yard box’ in the party understand what is happening but people outside may not understand. However, there is nobody that will be happy that the party chairman led a group of people to embarrass the Governor in Abuja just because he didn’t grant their request for money. This is not about politics. We have tried to speak with him and make it an internal affair, but he has refused and people are already suspecting that he is being used. It is too early for such.
“Anybody in doubt of our position should reply us. We have the evidence for all what we are saying including the letter used to request for the money and the video of the Abuja incident”, he added.
Efforts to get reaction of the party chairman on the issue were unsuccessful on Sunday. Several calls and text message sent to him were neither answered nor replied before this paper went to bed.
Similarly, the Publicity Secretary of the APC in the state, Alhaji Tajudeen Aro, refused to reply to a text message last night.
An online comment believed to have been sponsored from the camp of the party chairman described the issue as a “thing of shame”.
“Before the elections, promises were made and people went as far as spending their personal money to make sure the party emerged victorious. At the end of the day, we thank Almighty Allah for the victory, but we are shocked that Abdulrahman after swearing in as Kwara State Governor has quickly forgotten the role the party played.
“This might sound like being entitled, but the recent refusal of Abdulrahman to release money for the North Central convention calls for urgent attention. How much is N10m that the governor can’t release to support Kwara state delegates at the just concluded APC North central conference? It’s a thing of shame that a governor that is suppose to keep the party together is insensitive to little things that can trigger rancor amongst members.
“(Gov) Abdulrahman should understand that it’s not about trying to protect one’s integrity alone, it’s about standard process and making people feel important after rendering their selfless service for him as a party. We’ll still be the ones to defend him when things go haywire and got sour with the opposition.
“We don’t really want an insensitive Governor that don’t regard his party members, we don’t want a governor that will leave us hanging and tasking our purse when he is able and capable to make it easy.
“We are totally disappointed in His Excellency and we have to set the record straight as party faithful and as good ambassador of the state. The Governor should do well next time”.
The Kwara State chapter of the APC has been enmeshed in pre-election and post election crisis. The victory of the party at the polls did little to address the problem as some APC leaders in the state have accused the governor of running ‘a one man show’ on the issue of appointments and style of governance.

…kinsmen calls for Bolarinwa’s resignation

By Mumini AbdulKareem

A Chieftain of the Kwara State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and President General of the Orisun Igbomina, Chief Gbenga Awoyale has called for the immediate resignation of the state Chairman of the party, Bashiru Omolaja Bolarinwa.
The social-political group in a statement dripping with venom issued after an emergency meeting and signed by Awoyale on Friday, stated that the call was based on unanimous decision because Bolarinwa was forced on them.
The group also identified “arrant arrogance and lack of capacity on the part of the chairman which is unhealthy in a democratic setting”, noting that “it was this same chairman that refused to campaign with the APC governorship candidate and ordered the exco members to boycott the campaign.
It added that Bolarinwa’s nonchalant attitude and arrogance would have cost the party the 2019 general elections.
The statement reads in part: “In the interest of fairness, equity and progress of the APC in the state, the chairman should immediately resign his appointment because he was never elected in the first instance as prescribed by our Party’s constitution coupled with his autocratic ways of running the party as if it’s his personal business empire.
“The organisation condemn in strong terms, the unruly outburst of the Chairman at a meeting between the excos and the Governor on Monday 12th August.
“Similarly, the chairman on the 21st August 2019 at a reception in honour of the returned Information Minister Alhaji Lai Mohammed, where the Governor was seated, did not acknowledge nor recognise the Governor during his remarks and deliberately referred to the Minister as the leader of the party instead of the Governor in the state. This is the height of insubordination which is condemnable.
“The outbursts and antagonistic disposition of the chairman arose from the refusal of the Governor to grant his N10 million request for a one-day event in Abuja. This display of arrogance was largely due to the fact that he was not elected but imposed”.
Awoyale also stated that since there is democratically elected government in place and the Deputy Governor comes from the same Local Government with the chairman; it is politically expedient for Bolarinwa’s position to be shifted to another Local Government in Kwara South.
He declared support of the Orisun Igbomina to the Governor and applauded him for demonstrating high leadership qualities and sense of commitment to the growth, development and prosperity of Kwara within the shortest time.
He advised the Governor not to be distracted by those who are not happy with his achievements and passionately appealed to him to extend his road rehabilitation projects to Oro-Esie-Arandun communities and other bad roads in Kwara South.