It's no longer business as usual in Saraki political dynasty. Unlike the time of the patriarch of the Saraki political dynasty, the late Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki (Olooye) when aspiring political office holders were handpicked for elective offices, the new leader of the dynasty, Dr. Bukola Saraki has ruled that merit should take precedent in choosing candidates for the forth coming council polls in the state.

During the elder Saraki's reign which spanned over four decades, the only visible yardstick for selecting candidates for elective offices was loyalty but this time around, the new leader is insisting that all aspirants must go to the field and present their programmes to the party members who in turn will decide who should be fielded as chairmanship and councillorship candidates for the council polls billed to hold before the end of the year.

This development has thrown most aspirants, especially those currently holding political offices off balance, as the leader has asked such person to first resign their appointment before they can pursue their ambition.

At a stakeholders' meeting recently at Ilorin, the state capital, Senator Saraki took time to warn all PDP leaders across the state over imposition of candidates against the wish of the electorate.

The PDP leader in the state maintained that he has no anointed candidate and challenged party elders to ensure a level playing ground for the aspirants.

Also, Saraki told members to put all hands on deck and work towards ensuring victory for the ruling party in the forth coming local government election.

He said, everyone should go back to his or her zones, wards and local government to work towards the PDP's success in the coming election.

 As for me I have no anointed candidate and I have advised all party leaders, elders and party executive as well as political office holders to dissociate themselves from having a particular candidate. We want to pick credible and responsible candidate who will work for the betterment of his/her people,  he added.

 Any party leader and stake holder who present their anointed candidate for the election will be rejected, everyone must be given a level playing ground, we want those with experience in politics and had contributed to the party, and also the people's choices would be allowed to contest,  the senator added.

Corroborating Saraki, the state chairman of the party, Alh. Ishola Balogun Fulani said no anointed candidate would be accepted except those chosen by the people to represent them at the local government level.

Following this development, strong indications have emerged that incumbent political office holders aspiring for the council polls in the state, are now in dilemma over the quit order handed down to them by their leader, Senator Bukola Saraki.

The appointees include commissioners, Special Advisers, Special Assistants, Liaison Officers (LOs) and Youth Empowerment Coordinators (YECs), among others.

LEADERSHIP SUNDAY gathered that none of the aspiring appointees has resigned thereby leaving their chairmanship ambition hanging in the balance.

It was gathered that the appointees were not sure of their fate in clinching the party's tickets, concluding that an attempt to quit their offices could be suicidal.

 Who will resign among us?,  a highly placed source queried, noting that the directive by the leader was meant to test the aspiring appointees' loyalty to him because if anybody should resign his appointment now for the chairmanship ambition, do you know what that means? It means such person believes in his popularity and by extension he or she believes he can win the election without the leaders backing or support .

Another aspirant, but not an appointee, said that Saraki's decision was in good direction because, it would streamline the number of aspirants across the 16 local government areas.

 You know Oga (referring to Saraki) has asked them to resign, but none of them could resign and they cannot continue to incur Oga's wrath. So, we (aspirants) are now of limited numbers,  the source said.

A source at the PDP secretariat along Nupe road, GRA, Ilorin confided in the LEADERSHIP Sunday that Saraki's directive was aimed at bringing about the emergence of credible candidates who would fly the banner of the PDP in the council polls.

The source added that the party's leadership in the state had given all local government party elders/caucus the mandate to search for the best among the numerous aspirants eyeing the chairmanship seats across the 16 local councils.

The LEADERSHIP SUNDAY's investigation showed that over 120 aspirants are contending for the available 16 chairmanship seats in the state.