Investigation has revealed that the politicians who defected to the All Progressives Congress, APC from the Peoples Democratic Party, were locked in a supremacy battle with some leaders of the three political parties that merged to form the APC. In Kwara State for instance, members of the parties that merged to form the APC have described the leader of

the PDP defectors, Senator Bukola Saraki, as a burden instead of an asset to the APC. Saraki is the political godfather of the state governor.

To forestall problem, however, the party has set up reconciliation committees in some of the affected states.

The members are of the opinion that the party does not need Saraki to win elections in the state. A former governorship candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, Mr. Dele Belgore, is the leader of the APC members opposed to Saraki’s take-over of the party.

A leading member of the Belgore group, Rev. Bunmi Olusona,   said this in a statement, in Ilorin on Thursday.

 In the statement titled, “Issues before the John Oyegun mediation committee,”  Olusona stated, “We aver that we do not need Bukola Saraki to win elections in Kwara. In fact, the coming of Bukola Saraki is a huge burden on the Kwara APC. 

“We now have a daunting task of convincing Kwarans that we remain a part of their hope for change. Without federal support, Bukola Saraki cannot win any election!

“We will never accept the leadership of Bukola Saraki and we will never accept any arrangement that cedes the party structure to any new entrant into the party.”

Another prominent member of the Belgore group, Dr. Saad Omo-Iya, also explained the group’s stand in an interview with one of our correspondents.

Omo-Iya said, “Saraki is a soloist and (a) despot.  Some of us cannot work with him.  That is why we are in the APC.  Now that he has come to the APC, and it is being speculated that APC has handed over the party structure to him, that means some individuals own that party.

“It equally means that the party is no longer a party.  It is like a property of some individuals. That does not really reflect democracy. Basically, looking at it, you can see that there is no basis for further relations.”

He said that the structure of the party should not be handed over to an individual, adding that registration of members should be free and fair.

However, Mr. Yemi Afoloyan, a former state Secretary of the Saraki-led PDP faction, told Saturday PUNCH in an interview that claims that Saraki was a despot were untrue.

He described Saraki as a grass-roots political leader, who stepped into the shoes of his revered father, the late Chief Olusola Saraki.

Afolayan said, “One of the best things for Kwarans and the APC in the state is the handing over of the  APC’s structure to  Saraki. We have the election winning machinery and we win and deliver wherever we go. We have come to the APC with an election-winning machinery and we are sure the machinery will not fail.

“It will deliver anytime.  Saraki has not said he is going to the APC to take over everything. He believes in egalitarian society. The door is open for integration of all the stakeholders and shades of opinions.

“What is paramount in the mind of our leader, is the continued transformation and development of our dear State of Harmony.”

 In an attempt to douse growing tension between supporters of the Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau-led former members of the ANPP and the Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso, the national headquarters of the party has set up a reconciliation committee headed by the Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari, and a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Masari.

Yari and Masari were given the task of drawing up a workable arrangement to accommodate the two leaders and their followers, and to prepare the ground for the party’s mobilisation and registration of members scheduled to begin this month.