Kwara APC crisis deepens as move to remove Bolarinwa thickens
…we can no longer pretend all is well – Lai Moh’d’s group
*No single campaign promise fulfilled yet – Saheed Popoola
…we can no longer pretend all is well – Lai Moh’d’s group
By Mumini AbdulKareem
Will the Chairman of the Kwara State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bashiru Omolaja Bolarinwa survive the latest onslaught allegedly being orchestrated by Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq to oust him from office?
This was the dominant question that was on the lips of concerned APC stakeholders last night as the party’s crisis worsened, this medium gathered.
The Governor and party chairman have reportedly been at daggers drawn shortly after the APC came to power in the state over irreconcilable differences.
To this end, it was gathered that Governor Abdulrazaq had secured the consent of majority of the party executives who are believed to have sympathy for him in its efforts to actualise the plot.
Bolarinwa is said to be a staunch loyalist of the Minster of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who is reportedly not on the same page with the Governor.
The party chairman recently had outburst with the Governor over alleged act of insubordination and for deliberately recognising the Minister as the leader of the party in Kwara State.
The latest move to unseat Bolarinwa, it was learnt, was premised on the mode of his emergence which did not reportedly follow the normal process as prescribed by article 20 (i) of the APC constitution.
According to reports, Bolarinwa’s emergence was neither by consensus nor election but imposition supported by the national leadership of the party under Adams Oshiomhole.
According to the provision, the chairman of the party can only emerge by consensus or election (direct or indirect) during primaries and there must be a “yes or no” vote if consensus is adopted.
Efforts to get the party chairman’s reaction on the issue last night were not successful as several calls to him were not answered.
But reacting to the issue, the Pubicity Secretary of the party, Alhaji Tajudeen Aro in a telephone chat said the Governor has no hand in the plot to remove the party chairman adding that the APC may call for a roundtable to bring all stakeholders together.
“The Governor has no hand in that (removal of the party chairman), that I can tell you.
Asked whether the party will call for roundtable discussion to resolve the party’s lingering crisis over leadership differences, Aro said “Let’s hope for that. Very soon, we will get out of this. But normally, you cannot avoid disagreement (in party politics) which is certainly part of democracy”, he submitted.
Aro and a loyalist of the Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Kayode Ogunlowo, have engaged each other in retaliatory social media posts over the development in the party.
“The political party is supreme. Yes, but under the leadership of the Governor, who himself doubles as a very big stakeholder in the party. He is by implication the financier of the party and dictates the tune of the party democratically. Any attempt to reduce his power over the party is an attempt to return us to the dark days of political enslavement”, an excerpts from the post of the party’s scribe read.
But in response, Ogunlowo on a whatsApp platform said “Am not surprised to see this coming out from Mr Publicity Secretary. We knew where you belong to in this shenanigans. We knew your demand from the Governor as such, you need to be on the other side.
“Whether someone is trying to divide the APC or not, the fact on the ground shows that the Kwara APC had being divided even before the general election. We only swept it under the carpet as to avoid given Saraki dynasty undue chance during the last election.
“You believe the Governor as a big stakeholder in the party and financier of the party even though we are yet to see such role should be allowed to DICTATE the tune for the party by implications, he has unfettered power to remove anybody and decide for the party? You even believe any attempt to reduce his power over the party to dictate the tune of the party will return us to the dark days . . . Mr publicity, your write up have shown we are already back to Egypt. Only God can save us from this neo-dynasty”, he posted.
However, Ogunlowo in a telephone chat last night with this reporter refuted insinuation that he was being sponsored by Alhaji Lai Mohammed to destabilise the party.
“Yes, agreed I am close to Alhaji Lai Mohammed and I know him as a Minister, but I was not sponsored by anybody. My reaction on all these is because I want unity to reign in the APC and that is why I have been advocating that the removal (of the chairman) or dismantling of the party’s structure (will not augur well) for the APC because the party is our last hope. That was my campaign before. But when Aro got my reaction on an online platform, he said I was doing this for position,” he noted.
…we can no longer pretend all is well – Lai Moh’d’s group
By Mumini AbdulKareem
A group within the Kwara State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has said that the party can no longer pretend that all was well with the ruling party following leadership crisis that engulfed it recently.
The group, Kwara APC Unity Group (KAUG), believed to be loyal to the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, in a statement on Sunday said it has launched investigation into the lingering crisis rocking the party in the state.
The release which was jointly signed by its Chairman, Charles Olufemi Folayan and Secretary, Bar Shehu Bashir, noted that party men can no longer pretend that all is well with the (APC) in the state while folding their arms and turning a blind eye to the crisis that is capable of robbing the state.
KAUG noted that the party’s victory in the 2019 general elections was made possible by the resolve of Kwara people to exit the old system of government which made the APC the best choice for the people warning that such privilege should not be taken for granted.
According to the group, the party should never toy with the victory achieved but rather put its house in order to deliver dividends of democracy at all levels.
“We have launched investigations into the root cause of the crisis and would begin consultation visits to relevant stakeholders immediately across board.
“We implore all the stakeholders within the state, both within the government and party hierarchy to eschew crisis and avoid statements capable of further instigating the crisis and equally warned party members to desist from inciting utterances that are capable of exacerbating the crisis”, the statement added.
