The Kwara State chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bashiru Omolaja Bolarinwa last night drew the ball line with Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq over alleged moves to reconstitute the executive of the party.
Insiders in the party, it was gathered, however believe the battle is actually between the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed and the Governor over the protracted leadership crisis in the state chapter of the party.
Bolarinwa is a staunched loyalist of the Minister.
Any further doubt about the Governorโs alleged plot to oust Bolarinwa in the fight for the control of the soul of the partyย in the state evaporated last night when the embattled chairman issued a terse statement regarding the issue.
According to him,ย anyone tinkering with the list or engaging in the composition of party executive members in the state APC are impostor and agents of destruction
He said nobody is empowered at any level to tinker with the list or compose any new party executives of APC as of moment as there was no need for such.
โParty members are advised to disregard any call from any quarters for the composition of new set of party executives.
โHon. Bolarinwa as the State Chairman, reaffirm that all executive members of the Party at all levels, ward, local and state remain sacrosanct and undisputable.
โI therefore call on those who are on the mission to destabilise the party to have a rethink, retrace their steps and succumb to party rules in accordance with our constitution which remains supreme in running the party.
โI remain, for the purpose of emphasis, the only source for the authentication of exco members of Kwara APCโ, he added.
Efforts to get the reaction of the party spokesman, Alhaji Folaranmi Tajudeen Aro on the issue proved abortive as several calls to his two telephone lines were neither answered nor returned.
Aro is the Governorโs right hand man in the state executive of the party, it was gathered.
The party chairman is allegedly facing the threats because of his allegiance to the minister who as party leader led the O`to`ge revolution that defeated the Bukola Saraki control in Kwara.
Recently at a reception for Lai Mohammed on his reappointment as minister in Abuja attended by the Governor, Bolarinwa was said to have been under pressure after referring to the minister as the leader of the party following an earlier outburst with the Governor on their way to the event from Ilorin.
A group said to be loyal to the Governor had reportedly issued an ultimatum to the chairman to apologise over the issue.
There have been reports that the camp of the Governor has been trying to woo some elements of the Bolarinwa executive with the intention of distabilising the executive whose term is due in 2022.
The moves however culminated to heavy speculations in Kwara at the weekend of the imminent dissolution of the executive firmly controlled Bolarinwa with the support of Lai Mohammed.
