There is tension in Kwara over the recent defection of new Peoples Democratic Party (nPDP) members to the All Progressives Congress (APC). Our correspondent  explores the unfolding development viz-a-viz the battle for 2015 in the state.

The newly re-appointed chairman, Federal Character Commission (FCC), Professor Shuaib Oba Abdulraheem, one of the dramatis personae in the raging battle for the soul of Kwara State's political leadership stirred the hornet's nest on Saturday during a rally organised at his Ajikobi Central ward in Ilorin West Local Government.

Since former governor Bukola Saraki and his successor, Abdulfatah Ahmed and their supporters, who controlled the PDP in the state, defected to the APC,  and Senate's confirmation of Abdulraheem, a former Vice-Chancellor of University of Ilorin, for re-appointment at the FCC despite opposition by Saraki, the Saturday rally was the first public appearance of the Professor of English and the first time he would make comment on the alignment of Sarakis with the APC and what it portends for PDP in the state on one side and the widely rumoured second term ambition of President Goodluck Jonathan on the other side.

Abdulraheem, who first addressed his supporters in Yoruba spoke to newsmen shortly on his perception of the current political configuration in the country especially Kwara State. He said the defection was part of democratic process and expressed satisfaction that the defectors have chosen to part with the party because of their resistance to the desired change being advocated by the people.

He declared that the defection would pave way for the emancipation of the state, saying the state has been "unfortunate" to be saddled with leaders whom he said were only fond of globe-trotting and feathering their own nests at the expense of the masses.

"Kwara State has been quite unfortunate by the quality of leadership it has been saddled with in the past decade. We have people at the helms of affairs who are so far removed from the reality of the community, that they live in the skies of their own. You never find our governor in Omu Aran-Kaaba road; you never see our Speaker going to Jebba by road; they all go with our money in chartered flights. If you put together all the money they have spent chartering flights all over the place, it is enough to build the community. What we are asking for is return to sanity; a return to government for the people, by the people".

Former Governor Saraki ruled the state from 2003 to 2011 before handing over to the incumbent Governor Ahmed ( who served as commissioner for virtually all the eight years of his administration) who has demonstrated unalloyed loyalty to him. During the period, Professor Abdulraheem was a key member of the government heading the think-tank committee which was said to have played vital role in developing policies and programmes of the administration. When Saraki was re-elected in 2007, the FCC boss who was Director-General of his campaign organisation was also Chairman of Transition Implementation Committee (TIC) of the administration just as he mid-wifed the establishment of Kwara State University in his capacity as chairman of the steering Committee and pioneer chairman, governing council of the University.

He was later nominated by Saraki for the post of FCC Chairmanship where he resigned in 2011 to vie for the governorship ticket of PDP but lost to Governor Ahmed. Abdulraheem however found his way back to the FCC to complete the first term of five years.

Things however went awry between him and Saraki when he completed his first term in the commission while Saraki who is now a Senator representing Kwara Central in the Senate was said to have preferred another candidate from Kwara North to replace Abdulraheem. Feelers in Saraki's camp told Daily Trust that though both Saraki and Abdulraheem hail from the same ward, Saraki was itching for a candidate from Kwara North to ensure fairness and equity in appointment distribution in the state.  This was the beginning of enmity between the duo who were hitherto political associates nurtured and nourished like many others by the political dynasty of late Second Republic Senate Leader, Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki who died on November 14, 2012. 

Despite Saraki's opposition to Abdulraheem's reappointment and the intrigues that dotted his proposed Senate confirmation, the university don eventually scaled through the Senate hurdle as he was confirmed on Thursday December 5, 2013, few weeks after Saraki, Ahmed and some PDP chieftains who aligned with the Kawu Baraje-led new PDP, merged with the APC. Political analysts see the confirmation of Abdulraheem who is believed to have the full backing of the Presidency as a shocker plotted to humble Saraki.

In an oblique reference to the political leadership of Saraki, Abdulraheem however declared that he has an ambition to free the people of Kwara State from enslavement. "I have an ambition. My ambition is how to remove myself, my people and my community from slavery, to ensure that our children are no longer house boys in somebody's house, to ensure that our women no longer go for bags of rice, that's my ambition. To build the community where people can feel proud", he said.

Former PDP members in the state however hit back at Abdulraheem, insisting that the PDP in Kwara state is now "a dead party". Former Secretary of PDP, Prince Yemi Afolayan, in a statement said it was "uncharitable" for Abdulraheem to condemn the government of Kwara State simply because he has chosen to remain in PDP, adding that he owes his current political influence to the state government.

He said, "We have read the latest interview granted by Professor Shuaib AbdulRhaheem Oba on the fate of the Peoples Democratic Party both at the national and in our state, Kwara. As a party committed to the herculean task of delivering the dividend of democracy to our people, we would ordinarily have ignored his sensational declarations but on the other hand we understand that we owe our teeming supporters across the state a duty to correct the many fallacies and fantasies spurned by the Professor of Literature. Our conclusion is that he was only exhibiting his literary prowess.

"We do not envy him in his dream and fantasy that the PDP is still ruling the nation because we know that in reality a government that has lost touch with the electorate may still occupy the state house but in the hearts and minds of the people, it is no longer in power. And that can be attested to by the fact that daily thousands of people are joining the APC across the country and in Kwara, we wonder how many people are still left in the moribund PDP.

"It is simply uncharitable for Professor Oba to now condemn the government of Kwara state, simply because he decided to wait and eat the crumbs from the table of the party. Nigerians cannot forget that whatever political influence he has today is courtesy of the government of Kwara state".

Afolayan recalled that the government nominated him for the FCC job but "when that government decided to field another person for the office, everybody has become evil". The former PDP scribe said the government had in the last 10 years transformed the state "in terms of employment and infrastructure development, in terms of giving meaning to the lives of the real downtrodden, in terms of keeping faith and promises, not just in the last two and a half years, but since 2003 when the current political leadership of the state started the journey of transformation, notwithstanding the very challenging financial resource allocation to the state". 

The latest war of attrition among politicians who hitherto shared similar ideology, belief; wined and dined together as members of the same family, could not be disconnected from the 2015 election. The political configuration would however be felt more as the election approaches. Can Saraki and his supporters retain the grip of Kwara politics in 2015 under the APC? Will PDP as presently constituted make any headway and deliver the state for President Jonathan in 2015? These are indeed interesting times in the politics of Kwara state as politicians who owed their ascendancy to positions to Saraki's dynasty are bent on challenging the "status quo". How far can they go?