There is uneasy calm in the Kwara State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) over who, among the party stakeholders, would pick the state ministerial slot.

Though Senator Gbemisola Rukkayyat Saraki was earlier pencilled down for the ministerial appointment, Sunday Trust reliably gathered that she might not eventually get it owing to stiff opposition from other stakeholders of the party who are equally interested in the coveted post.

Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, who was the only Minister from the state, was last week Wednesday sacked by President Goodluck Jonathan as reportedly demanded by the state PDP which accused the ex-Minister of not participating in the party affairs.

Following Abdullahi’s sack, it was gathered some PDP top shots also indicated interest in the position.

Those eyeing the position include the newly defected Mohammed Dele Belgore, former Transport and Sports Minister, Alhaji Bio Ibrahim and former Security Adviser to the state government, Alhaji Yinka Aluko.

 Ibrahim is presently the Chairman of Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) while Aluko, who served as Security Adviser for over 10 years during former Governor Bukola Saraki and the current Abdulfatah Ahmed’s tenures, refused to defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC) with Saraki and others recently.

A source told Sunday Trust that the major challenge confronting the party is  leadership,  with the belief that the Minister would be the automatic leader of the party in the state.

“It is believed that the Minister is the automatic or presidentially anointed leader of the party in the state in the absence of a sitting Governor”, the source said. 

However, the PDP in a statement by its Director of Publicity, Mariam Mohammed Al-Hassan described the purported division as a result of ministerial position as untrue.

“For us in Kwara PDP, we remain united, focussed and dedicated to the achievement of the goals we have set in the search for “freedom for Kwarans” in a short-while, indeed, we are on course.

“Nomination of any of our members for appointment into the position of Honourable Minister of the Federal Republic shall be a good omen towards the realisation of our desire for good governance at all levels for our people as there shall  be no “Victor nor Vanquish (sic)” in the process”, the statement added.