Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed recently sacked all his political appointees including commissioners, special advisers, assistants, chairmen of agencies and parastatals, as well as Liaison Officers and Youth Empowerment Coordinators. Daily Trust, in this report, examines the implication of the sack and the jostle for position across the 16 local government areas of the state.

The dissolution did not jolt any of the officers concerned, as they were already aware of the impending sack. And as one of the just-dissolved cabinet commissioners observed, the governor has the statutory power to hire and fire without being challenged, which he has discharged with the cabinet dissolution. However, the dissolution of the cabinet has rather motivated the sacked appointees and those aspiring for positions in the governor's second term administration to begin a race to retain their position or get a soft landing as the case may be in the Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed's new administration. Political analysts in the state opine that the performance of each of the political stakeholders in their respective backyards would determine largely their standing in the new government.

This, Daily correspondent learnt, was the marching order given to them by the APC leadership. A chieftain of the party who spoke on condition of anonymity said, "The practice has been that every politician would be given the mandate to deliver his/her polling units if not the wards for the party. The performance of each member and chieftain of the party is largely going to influence the decision on who gets what in the next cabinet.

Conscious of this marching order, most of the politicians in the nights of last elections hurriedly rushed to Iloffa road, GRA, Ilorin which is the residence of the APC leader and former Governor Bukola Saraki who is now the Senate President to submit results from their polling units. Saraki, the Senator representing Kwara Central, as has been the case in the past, is conclusively going to decide the sharing formula in the cabinet. This further explains why every APC supporter and member in the state identified with his aspiration. They organised several prayers, addressed press conferences and issued press statements endorsing Saraki as Senate President all in a bid to be noticed and rewarded with appointments. Some of them reportedly frequented Abuja and consulted traditional rulers for support as the lobby intensifies. For former members of the dissolved cabinet and others of their ilk who chaired boards or parastatals or held other appointing positions, their fate currently hangs in the balance as it was reliably gathered that new bloods would be injected into the administration as it begins a second term.

This is not to also rule out the fact that the state governor may decide to retain some members of the dissolved cabinet who are his favourites and with whom he has long-standing relationship. In this category are former Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Demola Banu, that of Justice, Barrister Kamaldeen Ajibade, among others. Besides, some chieftains of the party like Alhaji Kawu Baraje, among other party chieftains would have inputs in reconstituting the cabinet. Apparently, the state APC is in a fix and faces a more intricate situation which it has to handle with the meticulousness and sagacity it deserves in a bid to reward party men and women through positions.

The last minute defection by Senator Gbemisola Rukayyat Saraki from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to APC on the eve of the presidential election is another factor that would sway the allocation of positions. Days after the defection of Gbemi Saraki, a two-term Senator and younger sister of Senator Bukola Saraki, her loyalists and supporters followed suit. They included key members of the state executive committee of the PDP including the state Secretary, Women Leader, Youth Leader, a former Speaker of the House of Assembly, among others. Among the defectors were also seven PDP candidates for the state legislature who had to jettison their ambition in deference to their principal. Therefore, it is expected that slots would be given to the GRS group as Gbemi Saraki's political movement is famously tagged, as a way of integrating the group in the APC family.

Already, some local government chapters of APC in the state are divided over the choice of commissioner and other nominees for positions in the next cabinet. Some are accusing one another of trying to reap where they did not sow even as interest groups look up to the APC leader to do justice. Though the APC has denied any crisis in the state and that it has not decided on power sharing, all the interests, groups and individuals jostling for positions have intensified their lobby.

Spokesman of APC in the state, Alhaji Sulaiman Buhari said the party would consider merit in appointments. In a chat with Daily Trust, he said, "The party is managing it as expected of a progressive party with huge respect for participatory democracy and governance.

"It is untrue that politics of appointment into the cabinet has polarised the local government chapters of our party. Though, all members of our party are free to express interest in political appointments, the leadership of our party will consider merits above other considerations".

But all eyes are on Saraki to make the right choice. With the battle for Senate Presidency won, it is expected that the APC leadership would any moment from now sit to decide who gets what in the new cabinet. And as expected as well, the politicians have stepped up their moves towards securing places in the Ahmed’s second term administration.