While the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara State under the leadership of Bukola Saraki recorded a landslide victory in the 2011 general election in the state with the governorship seat, all the seats of the National Assembly in the state and 22 of the 24 seats in the state House of Assembly won by the party, the then Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) proved to be the strongest opposition in the state with potential to be more difficult to beat in the future elections.

The ACN though won only two state House of Assembly’s seats in the whole election was the first runners up party in the election virtually and was only  defeated with an infinitesimal margin by the PDP in some areas.

The ACN, after the election, carried on as the most formidable and outspoken opposition in the state, putting the ruling PDP on its toes on many of the policies of the ruling party until the opposition party merged with other opposition parties, the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) and Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), to form the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The opposition parties which have dissolved into the APC now jointly function as the major opposition in the state making critical views on the policies and actions of the ruling party.

The APC strongly protested the outcome of the re-run local government election at the Offa local government council of the state, said to be rigged by the state electoral commission (KWSIEC) in favour of the PDP. The local councils had been controlled by the defunct ACN before the re-run election where the chairmanship and councillorship candidates of the PDP were controversially declared the winners and returned elected by the KWSIEC.

This situation of the PDP being the ruling party and APC the major opposition party continued in the state until recently when the leaders and majority members of the PDP in the state decided to defect to the APC.

This defection came as a result of the decision to merge with the APC taken by the majority members of the new PDP, including five of the seven governors in the group. The Kwara State governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed, and his predecessor in office, Bukola Saraki, who is regarded as the leader of the PDP in the state were among the new PDP members that joined the APC.

However, with the defection of Saraki and his associates from PDP to APC the opposition against the group in the state is now witnessing a new dimension. The opposition is coming from two angles, with one coming from the members of the PDP left behind in the party and the other from the APC that the people defected to.

The PDP members who are forming opposition against the Saraki’s group comprise some of the people who are foundation members of the party in the state and those who were formerly associates of Saraki but have parted ways with him. Their opposition to his leadership started becoming prominent when the new PDP was formed as they distanced themselves from that group.

The people made their opposition more prominent when Saraki’s group finally dumped the party for the APC. Not only that, they refused to follow the group to the APC; some of them, especially his former associates, saw the development as a relief from inconveniences as they alleged Saraki ran a self-centered leadership.

The opposition against Saraki within the APC is mainly about the status the politician should have in the party and how to cope with the self-betrayal of the ideal of a struggle. This opposition is being launched by a majority of the ACN members of the APC who seem to be seeing it as difficult to maintain a compatible association with Saraki’s group.

Some of these people who are supporters of Dele Belgore, the governorship candidate of the ACN during the 2011 election, recently gathered at the state secretariat of the defunct ACN in Ilorin where they displayed anger that the leadership of the APC did not take into consideration the cause the group was pursuing in Kwara before accepting Saraki, Ahmed and other defecting PDP members into the Party.

However, Belgore, while addressing the people, urged them not to entertain any apprehension over the development and assured them that the matter would be effectively handled.

He expressed agreement with the position of the people that it was worrisome that the leadership of the APC did not take into consideration the cause being pursued in the state before accepting the defecting PDP members into the party. The politician explained that the cause is to liberate the state from alleged plundering of its resources by a clique and empower the people economically. He also reassured them that they would not waver on the position. “Our political existence is dependent on the liberation struggle and it can never be negotiated,” he stated.

Belgore said the people built the APC in the state and that their discontinuance of membership of the party may spell doom for the party in the state. He, however, urged them to exercise patience and continue to be functional members of the party, saying what would be the next line of action would be communicated to them as the situation is progressively reviewed.

It is amidst this development that an interim executive committee for the APC in the state was formed by a faction of members of the party. This faction which comprises mainly the members of the defunct ACN has called on the national leadership of the APC not to hand over the structure of the party in the state to Saraki.

Chairman of the interim executive committee, Bunmi Olusona, who spoke on behalf of the faction, said Saraki should not be accorded any special privilege within the APC. He added that the former governor should only be allowed to compete for his position and establish the popularity he could within the party.

He stated: “While we welcome Senator Bukola Saraki and his members into the party, we insist that he should not receive any privilege in his entry into the party. He should be allowed to establish himself and compete for his position and establish any popularity he has in the party.”

“Although we are yet to confirm or be fully briefed by the national headquarters of our party that Senator Saraki has been given a lifeline by handing over the APC structure in Kwara to him, but to this effect we have already written an official letter to the national headquarters of our party detailing our position on the issue. Again we want to state unequivocally that the tragedy in this contraption, if true, can be unimaginable.”

Olusona who said that the state had been under the hegemony of the Saraki political dynasty in the past 40 years and that the APC had been seen by many stakeholders as a platform for achieving a clear break from the past, warned that handing over the party to Saraki would lead to the demise of the party.

Hear him: “If the alleged decision to cede the party structure to Senator Saraki were true, then this no doubt will only signal the demise of the party in the state, because if APC is about change, favouring a rejected 40 year old hegemony is clearly not what the party stands for.”

However, another faction led by ex-chairmen of the defunct All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP), ACN, Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) hailed the politician’s decision to join APC and acceptance accorded him by the leadership of the party.

This faction, in a communique issued after its special general meeting and signed by the former chairmen, namely Taiwo Eleja (ANPP), Suleiman Buhari (CPC), Kayode Olawepo (ACN), and Abdulrasheed Taiwo (APGA), assured Saraki and his associates cooperation and accommodation in the APC.

They said: “We pledge the full cooperation of the existing APC members in Kwara State with our new friends from the PDP. We assure them that the APC House is big enough to accommodate everyone, especially those who believe in our Party’s tripod ideologies of justice, equity and economic prosperity for the good people of Nigeria.

“We particularly recognize the preeminence of his Excellency, the Executive Governor of the state, Alhaji Abdulfatai Ahmed, Sen. Bukola Saraki and all other stakeholders in the state. We note, with delight, their doggedness in fighting injustice in their former party and their commitment to the Nigerian ideals. We are convinced beyond doubt that these leadership qualities, among others, are in tandem with the vision and aspirations of the founding fathers of the APC.”

Saraki himself has, however, assured of his preparedness to work toward a situation where all members of the APC in the state are carried along without discrimination. The politician, in a message to the party faithful, promised existing and new APC members that the party will ensure inclusiveness and internal democracy to give all stakeholders a sense of belonging and ensure a government run by the participation of all stakeholders.

Saraki stated that the progressive ideals of good governance, respect for the rule of law and inclusive governance will be the hallmark of the party. He said that the fusion of the two groups would positively transform the face of governance and deepen democracy in the State.

The former governor who disclosed that consultations were ongoing with the party leadership at the state and national levels to work out mutually acceptable structure for the  effective take-off of the new merger arrangement in Kwara State, urged members of the party in the state to continue to make the interest of the state and the country paramount.

Meanwhile a group functioning under the aegis of Kwara Conscience (KC) and which described itself as the most formidable group within the APC has opposed, in some respects, both the Saraki’s group and the Olusona’s faction. The group kick against alleged plan to hand over the structure of APC in the state to Saraki and Governor Ahmed as it, on the other hand, objected to the constitution of an interim executive committee of the APC by the Olusona’s group.

The KC which said its members cut across politicians from the defunct ANPP, ACN, and CPC, and Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN), Labour Party (LP) and All Progressive Grand Alliance took this position in a communique it issued after its meeting. The communiqué was signed by Kayode Ajiboye, Oloyin Lateef Adebayo, and Fatimoh Geo.

The group said it detested the membership of the defecting PDP politicians in the APC in the state, saying the old PDP members had come to jeopardise the growth of the APC.

“They (defecting PDP members) have infested the APC family with their leprosy and other deadly viruses of insatiable lust for power,” the group said. The KC said it is prepared to work towards realising a change being yearned for by the people of the state from “the cabal that have held the state to ransom over the years,” adding that “We have resolved to work with other progressives within the state to bring about a positive change which the state is in dire need of now.”

The group faulted those who constituted the interim executive committee of the APC saying, “We dissociate ourselves from those self-serving people who have failed to learn from history.”

Given the prevailing political scenario in Kwara, some critics consider the entry of the Saraki faction of PDP in the state as not only derailing the progressive march of the erstwhile ACN but also as a development that is capable of throwing the new APC into crisis if the national leadership of the party fails to act in time and decisively.