With Mumini Abdulkareem
The Public Relation Officer (PRO) of the Kwara State chapter of the
All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Tajudeen Folaranmi Aro last
night broke his silence on his alleged rift with the party chairman,
Alhaji Bashiru Omolaja Bolarinwa over the leadership crisis rocking
the party.
Aro, according to top members of the APC, is Governor Abdulrahman
Abdulrazaq’s choice to replace the chairman who is presently facing
impeachment threat.
The crisis had pitched the chairman and the Governor against each
other which had also led to open outbursts between the duo in Ilorin
and Abuja.
But in a telephone chat with this reporter on the issue, Aro denied
there was any vacancy in the chairmanship position in the party,
adding that plans are underway to call a stakeholders meeting to
resolve the lingering crisis.
According to him, “I am just hearing this from you that the governor
is positioning me to take over as party chairman. There was no time
that I had any discussion with the governor to remove or install
anybody and he (Governor) has never been involved in this crisis.
Those behind it are only trying to make up some propaganda to cover
some anomalies in the party. The governor is not part of it at all.
“See, we have party constitution and there is always a position on
punishment for any recalcitrant party member. Over time, we will get
over this problem and it’s not unusual anyway”.
But ask if he would take up the position on the request of the
Governor because of the confidence response in him, Aro submitted
thus:
“Well, I cannot answer such question honestly because the position of
the chairman is not vacant and nobody is removing the chairman as far
as I know. So there is no reason for anybody to think of taking over
the mantle of leadership.
“If people are asking questions on how the party is run, that does not
mean they are removing the party chairman. But all they want is
accountability and nothing more.
“My message to Kwarans as regard this crisis is that they should see
the wrangling within the APC as normal in any democratic setting and
purely an internal problem that will be resolved. Generally, we should
expect the best from the governor, that is the most important thing,
all other things are side attraction and people should not bother
themselves about that but concentrate on the dividends of democracy
which the Governor is delivering. The party will bring all the
aggrieved members together at the appropriate time”, he added.
