Date: 2015-10-25

In spite of the enviable political rapport currently existing between Senate President Bukola Saraki and the national leadership, as well as the national assembly caucuses of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Kwara State chapter of the party appears unwilling to let go its determination to unsettle the Senate President and his political camp at home at home.

Following his controversial emergence as the helmsman of the national assembly against the wishes of his ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), while enjoying strong support from opposition PDP senators, Saraki has enjoyed a very warm relationship with his former party at the national level so much so that not a few political observers have said the senate is being controlled by the opposition legislators.

Saraki, who had dumped the PDP for the APC in the run up to the last general election, had rode on the back of his former party to emerge as the Senate President amidst opposition to his ambition by the leadership of his own party. In the process, it was alleged, he conceded the deputy Senate Presidency to the PDP, paving way for the return of Senator Ike Ekweremadu to the position.

The PDP became very protective of the Senate President after his emergence and had on many occasions, rose to his defense in an unusual show of solidarity for a man who played a vital role in the political humiliation of the former ruling party and its candidates across the country in the last presidential election.

For example, barely 24 hours after the Kwara State chapter of the party claimed that it was the petition it (Kwara PDP) sent to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) earlier in the year, that led to the invitation of the Senate President's wife, Mrs. Toyin Saraki, by the anti-graft agency, the national headquarters of the party directed it's Kwara State chapter to disclaim it's statement and disassociate itself from the former First Lady's travails.

To the shock of many Nigerians, the state chapter

wasted not time in carrying out the directive by promptly denying the statement.

The PDP Publicity Secretary of the party in Kwara, Mr. Rex Olawoye issued the disclaimer on behalf of the party in Saraki's home state. He described the earlier statement credited to him as baseless and plans of desperate and dubious individuals aimed at tarnishing the party image. The Party spokesperson explained that the party never written any petition to EFCC against Toyin saraki.

"Nobody was left in doubt that the PDP in Kwara was browbeaten into issuing the denial back then. That was not the first time the party would be claiming it has petitioned against the Saraki political family. And the queer denial is notwithstanding the fact that the first statement was sent through the usual channel Olawoye had used in sending previous statements which he has never denied," , Comrade AbdulRaman Hassan, Kwara State Co-ordinator of the Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM), told The Nation.

On another occasion, when Saraki, upon the commencement of his ongoing trial by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), he was escorted to the Tribunal by numerous PDP senators, further confirming insinuations that he is now in the good book of erstwhile political enemies like former Senate Presdient David Mark, former Governors Godswill Akpabio and Jonah Jang, amongst others.

Not same back home

But the new found love between Saraki and the PDP at the national level appears not to have permeated the politics of Kwara state as the political rivalry that engulfed the state following the defection of the Senate President and his entire political camp, from the PDP to the APC, is not in any way abating. Rather, the PDP in Kwara is determined to weaken the support base of Saraki and his allies.

According to sources within the state, many of the chieftains of the PDP in Kwara are uncomfortable with the current political alliance between Saraki and the national leadership as well as the Senate caucus of their party. Consequently, they see no reason why the Senate President and his allies, including Governor Abdul Fatai Ahmed, should be given any political respite.

"The support being enjoyed by Saraki from the PDP is only at the Senate and perhaps from the national leadership of the party. Here in Kwara, the APC and the PDP are still very much at each other's jugular. Many of the PDP leaders in the state have vowed not to have anything to do with Saraki and his people.

This shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody following the fierce political contest we witnessed between the two camps before and during the last general election in the state. Many of the PDP chieftains are still rueing what they termed as the severe act of betrayal on the part of the Senate President when he abandoned them in the party and moved over to the APC.

Not a few are claiming that he didn't discuss his plan to dump the PDP with them before jumping ship. Many others say he kept telling them he had no plan to defect, only to do so suddenly. It is for these reasons that any talk of a truce is not attractive to these erstwhile allies of the Senate President.

You must also not forget that a good number of the former ACN chieftains he displaced from the APC, led by Dele Belgore, his arc rival, are now strong leaders in the PDP here in Kwara. With such a concerted opposition against him gathered in the Kwara State chapter of the PDP, it is left to be seen how the goodwill he enjoys from the party at the national and senate level will rub off on him here in Ilorin," Hassan said.

Fresh rumpus over bailout

Perhaps in continuation of its political battle on the strongholds of the Saraki camp, sources say the opposition in the state has concluded plans to make the state government account for how much it got from the federation account as bail out funds. It was gathered that following allegations and counter allegations between the state government and the opposition PDP over how the funds were spent, the party is determined to go all the way over the matter.

In a statement, the state chapter of the PDP said it was shocked by the alleged diversion. The party even fingered Saraki in the matter while describing the state government’s actions as thoughtless, and a total negation of the reasons behind the release of the funds.

"It is even more curious that the Kwara State Government has kept mute on the exact amount it got from the Consolidated Revenue Account as bailout. Whereas, virtually all states of the federation, particularly Abia, Akwa Ibom, Edo, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Osun, Ogun, Oyo, Kano, Kastina and Kaduna states had publicly declared how much they got as bailout from the Federal Government," the PDP said.

"In Kwara, the bail out funds are shrouded in too much of secrecy. The people are not being told the truth. All we hear are various figure and appellations. There was a time we heard of N2billion NLNG fund, later it was N3billion bail out and now we are hearing of N5billion Local government bail out approved by the House of Assembly. The government need to come out and explain what it got and how it is being spent. We are determined to play our role as an opposition party for the good of the people of Kwara.

And let me make it clear that there is not alliance between PDP and APC in Kwara state. When people cite examples of some things happening in Abuja, I tell them that is in Abuja and not Ilorin. Here in Kwara, the people are tired of this one man show and no PDP leader or member is willing to be bought over," our source, a chieftain of the PDP, explained.

This is not the first time the PDP will be raising alarm over the bail out fund. Weeks ago, it pointedly accused the Senate President and other allies of his of plotting to share the fund.

"The APC-led government of Kwara State has kept silent over the funds, thereby confirming the rumor making the rounds that the sudden homecoming of the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, on the day the funds was disbursed to Kwara State was with a bid to partake in the illegal sharing of the bailout funds"PDP had said in a statement back then.

But the Governor of the state debunked allegations of any diversion of the fund. On the issue of alerting the public about how much was received, Ahmed said government officials informed officials of the state chapters of the NLC and Trade Union Congress (TUC) during meetings held to update them on the funds received and how they will be utilised, adding that the information was also in the public domain.

The government also said it has not collected any bail out fund for the payment of arrears of salaries of staff of Local Government and the Teachers of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) from the Federal Government. It said rather, the N4.32bn loan it secured from the Central Bank of Nigeria bail out fund was meant to off set the arrears of salaries of May and August Salaries of core civil servants in the State.

The Permanent Secretary State Ministry of Finance, Mr. Benjamin Fatigun made this clarification in Ilorin while appearing before the House of Assembly committee on Finance and appropriation, who was directed by the House to request for details of the bail out since the inception of the current administration in the State.

He explained that though the State House of Assembly had given approval to the State Government to access the bail out fund from the Federal Government to clear the outstanding salary arrears of workers of Local Government Councils and SUBEB, the CBN he said up till this week had not released the N5bn bail out fund.

He said the State Governor had to resort into accessing a bank loan of N5.017bn last month from a commercial Bank to pay LGA staff and primary school teachers pending when the bail out fund would be released by the CBN to alleviate the suffering of the affected workers especially during the sallah festival.

Fatigun attributed the delay in the payment of September salary to some category of workers in the State to non release of the bail out fund and disclosed that the State Government had set up a Committee headed by the Secretary to the State Government to look into how to address the problem of salary arrears.

The government had also refuted reports making rounds that the Senate President, Saraki was paid N1 billion from the bail out funds received from the Federal government. Governor Ahmed in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Communication, Dr. Muyideen Akorede, described as false, malicious and unfounded, claims that Saraki pocketed part of the bailout fund given to the state by the Central Bank of Nigeria.

"The Senate President neither received any kobo out of the money which was fully used to pay the two-month salary arrears owed state civil servants in August, 2015 nor any other money from the state government," Ahmed said. The governor stated that Saraki was fully preoccupied with the onerous task of lawmaking and providing leadership at the National Assembly.

He added that Saraki had no time to either interfere with or control the state's finances which he said were under the jurisdiction of the state government and its authorised officials.