Kwara APC Crisis Latest: Party youths reject chairman, Bolarinwa, vow to occupy secretariat, today

By Mumini AbdulKareem

The leadership crisis rocking the Kwara State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) assumed another dimension, last night, as youths vowed to occupy the party’s secretariat, in Ilorin if the state Chairman, Bashiru Omolaja Bolarinwa refused to quit his post.
Bolarinwa was last Monday issued a 7-day ultimatum by the youth group to apologise and resign as the state Chairman of APC following alleged act of insubordination to the state Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq.
It was gathered that efforts by the party executives in the state to convince the youth to allow peace to reign was rejected.
In a statement, last night, by the Public Relations Secretary of Kwara Youth Congress (KYCO), Ibrahim Abdullahi, they reiterated their earlier stand that the embattled chairman should apologise to the Governor and people of Kwara State before tendering his resignation, failure of which they will be forced to occupy the party’s secretariat at the end of the 7-day ultimatum which expires today (Monday).
According to the group, the purported statement by Bolarinwa following the ultimatum does not constitute an apology for “his arrogance and verbal insult rained on the Governor at a meeting of executives of the party in the state and at the reception in honour of Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in Abuja.”
The statement added that, “As stated before, the genesis of his (Bolarinwa’s) anger and arrogance was due to the fact that the Governor refused to provide the sum of N10m to the party to travel to Abuja for a one-day event.
“The avoidance of an apology as demanded by us for the Chairman’s unwarranted rudeness to the Governor and by default to the people of the state who voted en mass for AA is not acceptable.
“Never in the history of politics in Kwara State has any Governor been so treated by any party chairman. He has betrayed the trust of numerous Kwarans who voted for the APC during the last general election,” the statement further said.
The youth who described the chairman’s action as “treacherous and unforgivable” further condemned him for reportedly ordering the arrest of the convener of a pressure group in the APC; Kwara Must Change (KMC), Abdulrasaq Hamzat at his (Bolarinwa’s) Fate residence, Ilorin, on Friday, for allegedly leading the call for his resignation.
“In politics, loyalty is total, once there is an element of disloyalty, no matter how little, not to talk of one as publicly exhibited by BOB. It is an unforgivable act and he must pay for such a treacherous action. The chairman in his further display of arrogance and hostility against the supporters of the government ordered the arrest of Kwara Must Change Convener, Abdulrasaq Hamzat at his residence in Fate, Ilorin over a purported call for his resignation”, it added.
Efforts to get the comments of the embattled party chairman on the issue were not successful last night as he refused to answer several calls by this reporter.
But, the state Publicity Secretary of the APC, Alhaji Tajudeen Folaranmi Aro, said Bolarinwa remains the party chairman (for now) in a text message last night over the issue.
Meanwhile, speaking on his arrest, the KMC convener described the development as transfer of aggression.
In a statement on Saturday, Hamzat who said he had high respect for the party chairman expressed disappointment over the incident.
“Until this moment, I am still yet to fully understand the reason for such violent aggression against an innocent and harmless individual. What led to my ordeal, to my understanding, was simply transfer of aggression as a result of ongoing political tension.
“The political development within the APC, seems to have taken its toll on the chairman’s team, to an extent that they could no longer recognise the people calling for his resignation, thereby putting the blame on an innocent person and group.
“What prompted this unfortunate development was simply the mention of the name, Kwara Must Change. Immediately this name was heard, the Personal Aassistant to the chairman suddenly turned violent, accusing the group of being behind the call for the resignation of the chairman. This happened before any other thing was said.
“An attempt, to correct the misinformation and say that KMC was not behind the call for BOB’s resignation led to the escalation of piled up anger, which probably emanated from the fact that, Kwara Must Change online platforms are used to promote different contents, irrespective of the sources.
“It should be noted that, if an individual appeared in a private residence, properly introduced himself and explained the reason for his visit, could such an individual be accused of impersonation? To my understanding, if such person is an unwanted guest, all that should be done is to ask such person to leave. But this didn’t happen”, he submitted, adding that he will address the matter properly after due consultation”.