Cabinet: Despite reconciliatory meeting, Kwara Gov dares APC stakeholders, dumps nominees

By Mumini AbdulKareem

The Governor of Kwara State, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq may be heading for
a showdown with the party’s stakeholders over the release of the third
batch of the commissioner-nominees’ list, National Pilot has learnt.
The Governor on Tuesday forwarded additional six names to the Kwara
State House of Assembly (KWHA) believed to be last batch of nominees
expected to constitute the cabinet.
Speaker, Hon Danladi Yakubu Saliu after reading the names on the floor
of the House said the 16 nominees comprising of nine females would be
screened next Tuesday at plenary.
However, the final list, it was gathered, jolted many of the aggrieved
stakeholders who had expected the Governor to nominate their
candidates after the earlier lists failed to accommodate their
interests.
Following the piecemeal release of the initial four nominees in
September, aggrieved party stakeholders had demanded stakeholders’
meeting where they complained bitterly about the failure of the
Governor to carry them along.
It was gathered that Abdulrazaq subsequently promised to address their
grievances in the subsequent lists but the two batches released since
then have only worsened the situation.
The Governor’s action, some party leaders told National Pilot, last
night, amount to dribbling and daring the stakeholders who worked and
toiled to ensure Abdulrazaq’s victory in March.
Reponses from some party leaders like former chairman of the party,
Iyiola Oyedepo, Chief Rex Olawoye and Prof Shuaib Oba AbdulRaheem were
cautious over the development, last night.
According to Olawoye, “The governor knows why he picked those he has
picked, therefore I have no comment. Oyedepo on his part said, “The
Governor has the right to pick whoever he wants and he has picked
them.”
But when queried that the list is devoid of input of stakeholders like
him, the former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) state chairman, said:
“Is the Governor not the one with the mandate, if somebody has the
mandate, he can use it the way he wants”.
For Prof Oba; “The Governor has the prerogative (to nominate) and if
the House approves it, then that is the end. We just hope they
delivered,” adding that he was “not surprise about the cabinet”.
However, a very top party chieftain who did not want his name in print
because of the sensitivity of the issue told this reporter that,
“Anybody that is not a sycophant is not happy with what is going on in
Kwara as far as the government is concerned”.
Other party sources were also dejected about the cabinet.
“Only the Governor can answer the question of his action, he jolted
everybody in the party with the list and with reports so far, none of
the party leaders is happy, the Governor is not being truthful, he
wants to build his own team for 2023, but let’s wait and see,” the
source divulged.
Meanwhile, there was controversy over the rejection of the list by the
chairman of the party, Bashiru Omolaja Bolarinwa. last night.
A statement signed by the party chairman rejecting the list was
reportedly posted online by a prominent member of the ‘O to ge’
struggle.
While the chairman refused to answer several calls for response to the
issue, last night, he neither denied nor debunked attack on the
Governor through the list that went viral online and many social media
platforms in the state.
But reacting to the issue, the party’s Publicity Secretary, Alhaji
Tajudeen Aro, said, he doubt the authenticity of the statement, noting
that only the party chairman can say why he has remained silent on the
issue.