Date: 2021-03-06

The Publicity Secretary of the Caretaker Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State, Tajudeen Aro, says indiscipline was rife in the party under the suspended chairman, Bashir Bolarinwa.

He said this on Thursday at a meeting of "stakeholders in information management" held at the APC State Secretariat in Ilorin, the state capital.

Mr Bolarinwa was removed by the national caretaker committee of the party led by Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni, and replaced with Abdullahi Samari in January.

This, however, widened a rift between the governor of Kwara State, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, and a group of party leaders led by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed.

Despite the intervention of the national body and executives of the North Central zone of the party, the factions have remained at war.

The crisis degenerated to the point that the party's membership revalidation and registration exercise was rejected by Mr Mohammed, who said the process was not transparent and was skewed in favour of Mr AbdulRazaq's faction.

Political observers believe the rift may affect the party in future elections unless it finds a way to resolve it.

'High level of Indiscipline'

Mr Aro, while admonishing members of the party on the role of the media in the activities of political parties, said a "high level of indiscipline (was) being exhibited in the party before it was rescued from the retrogressive forces with the suspension of the former caretaker chairman.

"We must not allow this to continue in our party. The party has a constitution which states very clearly how information should be disseminated, but today, every Dick and Harry rush to media houses to vent their personal anger on their perceived enemies without availing themselves of internal mechanism of conflict resolution in the party," he said.

He said the fallout of the party's success in the 2019 elections created a division which has polarised the ranks of the party.

Accusing some members of wrong use of the media, Mr Aro said; "the present government in the state is being devalued for selfish and untenable reasons by some people who are supposed to protect and launder its image.

"One major benefit effective communication has in resolving a conflict is the resultant reduction in anxiety, whether within a family or in the workplace. Using effective verbal - and nonverbal - communication further contributes to a successful resolution of conflict, either between individuals or within a group.

"We found ourselves in the mess that plagued the party in the last two years majorly because the leadership handled the issue of the media with reckless abandon and insensitivity.

"The office of the party publicity secretary at wards, LGA and state was treated with disdain and absolute neglect. There were no provision for media gadgets and equipment. Funds were not provided for day to day running of this very important organ of the party, particularly during electioneering campaign. "Gone are the days when publicity secretaries were reduced to mere letter/circular distributors. The scope of the media has widened tremendously which has made its working very expensive. A serious-minded party must pay serious attention to its media outfit."

According to the party spokesperson, the publicity secretaries must be on guard at all time.

"In this regard, I want to charge the publicity secretaries to work with all relevant stakeholders, like the government, party media influencers and opinion leaders within the party. It is our responsibility to protect, project and defend the image of the party at all time," he stated.