Alhaji Abduazeez Afolabi, newly elected chairman, Social Democratic Party (SDP), Kwara State chapter, has stated that the duo of Akogun Iyiola Oyedepo, the Chairman, Governing Council of Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, and Bashir Omolaja Bolarinwa, the Chairman of the Board of the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), are not yet members of the party.

Both men lead a powerful faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and are loyal to Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information, who has been at loggerheads with Kwara State Governor Abdulrahaman Abdulrazak.

Afolabi made the clarification on Tuesday during the state Congress of the party and also where the leadership structure of the party from the ward to the state emerged via consensus arrangement.

According to the new SDP state chairman, while the duo remain their leaders, they are yet to be members of the party.

“But I can assure you that powerful members from the ruling party have defected to SDP.

“We have Hon. Saheed Popoola, a state assembly member as one of us,” he said.

Talking generally about the journey that led him to the chairmanship of the party, Afolabi said that it has not been easy.

“Today, I humbly stand before you with a mind filled with both sadness and joy. Sadness in the sense that, it was not easy to always be in the trenches to fight bad governance.

“I remember that one of our leaders in the person Chief Akogun lyiola Oyedepo once philosophized when the present government in our dear state was freshly inaugurated and he said that the APC loyal’s are prepared to go back to the trenches if there is bad governance.

“Little did I expect that his assertion would come to pass so soon.

On the other hand, I feel very joyous that we had an ebullient and an astute leader in the person of Alhaji Bashiru Omolaja Bolarinwa (BOB) to lead us in the party otherwise the whole situation would have been a serious disaster.

He raised the bar of his selfless service so high that it will take an act of providence to surpass,” Afolabi said.

As party chairman in the state, he promised a level playing field for all aspirants running for the various political offices.

“I promise that transparency, equity, fairness and accountability will be the watchword in administering the affairs of our party,” he said