Things are no longer at ease within Kwara State political class. In this piece, SUCCESS NWOGU examines the various contentions between the Peoples Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress in the state.

Political manoeuvres in Kwara State entered another level this week with the claim of the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party that the erstwhile new PDP members that defected to the All Progressives Congress were plotting a return to the PDP.

Members of the New PDP in the state that defected to APC were loyalists of a former Governor of Kwara State, Dr. Bukola Saraki, who is currently the Chairman, Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology, and a former Acting National Chairman of the PDP, who later  became the Chairman of nPDP, Alhaji Kawu Baraje.

The Chairman, Publicity Committee, Kwara PDP, Alhaji Mohammed  Al-Hassan, had in a statement which was made available to journalists in Ilorin, claimed that the topmost leadership of the Saraki faction in APC had gone to Abuja  to prostrate  before some PDP leaders to be allowed to return to PDP.

He warned that those who intend to join the party now will not only be returning as fresh party members but should ‘join the queue, ship in or ship out.’

The statement said that returning members must realise that a new leadership structure was in place, adding that anybody coming back now must realise that a new leadership structure had been properly defined in the state.

“The clandestine moves being made by the leadership of the dissidents that defected from our great party, the PDP, for the opposition APC in order to return to our fold has been brought to our knowledge.

“Information reaching us indicates that the topmost leadership of the ‘dissidents’ have been begging and prostrating in Abuja to return to our fold  despite their flamboyant exit as if they have the capacity to  stay without the cover of the centre,” it said.

But in a swift reaction, Saraki, in a statement by a former secretary of the PDP in the State, Mr. Yemi Afolayan, said it was untrue that he and his loyalists were making overtures    to return to the PDP.

“Insinuations that we are pleading to come back to the PDP can only exist in the infantile imagination of those behind the rumour,” he said.

Saraki had also through his media aide, Bamikole Omisore, in a response to our correspondent’s enquiry, ruled out the possibility of returning to the PDP.

The senator claimed that his move to APC had already been applauded and accepted by his loyalists and supporters in Kwara State. “I will not be going back to PDP. The people of Kwara have endorsed the move to APC,” Saraki said

The senator had received some pockets of opposition from two major factions of APC. They are the groups loyal to a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Dele Belgore, who in 2011 contested as the governorship candidate of the now defunct Action Congress of Nigeria.

Another group is the one loyal to Alhaji Bashiru  Bolarinwa, a former House of  Representatives member that represented Lagos Mainland Federal Constituency. Bolarinwa was also a governorship aspirant in the state.

Two prominent members of the Belgore group, Dr. Saad Omo-Iya and Rev. Bunmi Olusona, had said that though  they were not opposed to new entrants to the party, the speculated handing over of the party structure to Saraki and the state governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, was unacceptable to them.

Omo-Iya said, “If they have handed over the party structure to Saraki, 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. And that does not really reflect democracy.

 “There should be free opportunity to enter and to leave but now if it is given to an individual who will decide who will register and who will not register, it is not a good experience.

“If registration of members is free and fair, and it is going to be a conglomerate of people with like minds to now operate and register freely and decide freely, be elected and elect people into offices, then it is a party.  But the moment it is handed over to an individual, it is no longer democracy.”

Olusona said the APC did not need the Saraki group to win any election in Kwara State.  He said the Saraki faction cannot come into the party and begin to lord it over them. “We are absolutely against handing over the structure of the party to Saraki,” he said. Belgore said such a move would not serve the interest of Kwara residents who he claimed wanted change.

“If party structure is handed over to Saraki and Ahmed, the future that awaits Kwarans, sadly, will be the same as the previous years that the kwara people have been struggling to get away from. Kwara people want change and should APC in Kwara be under the leadership of these personalities, that means that the years of struggle for Kwara people for equal opportunities, emancipation and empowerment still remains a mirage,” Belgore said.

Not done with their respective opposition of Ahmed and Saraki controlling the party structures, the Belgore and Bolarinwa factions addressed a media briefing in Ilorin penultimate Thursday. A former Minister of State for Aviation, Alhaji Aremu Yahaya and Bolarinwa, addressed the media briefing. The news  conference, attended by about 2,000 APC members, attracted stalwarts such as Alhaji Atanda, Mr. Agboola Ismail; Toyin Ayinla; Iyiola Oyedepo; Adeyinka Joshua; Dele Ishola; Tunde Mohammed; Chief Francis Okafor, among others.

Bolarinwa kicked against handing over the party structure to Saraki. He canvassed that the party offices from ward to state levels should be shared equally between the old and defected members of the party.

In an interview with our correspondent, he stated that his group too was not happy with the handing over of the party structure to Saraki and Ahmed.

“We are also of the opinion that there must be equitable distribution of the party position. Only those who are ready to bow before Saraki are the people he is ready to pat. APC members are not in any way safe if he is given the party structure.

“I am using this opportunity to make the appeal to the leaders of our party that they should come to our rescue.  We must not be left in his hands because if that is done, that will mean that even the interest of the original party members are being jettisoned,” Bolarinwa said.

Yahaya stated that members rejected any rule that ‘arrogates the leadership of the party in the state to either Saraki or Ahmed.

He stated that Kwara State residents were interested in change, adding that the party leadership should factor in the people’s aspirations and yearnings in their decisions and policies.

Yahaya said,  Kwarans are  yearning for a change. He added that Kwarans see the desired change in the APC, whose slogan is ‘change.’

 “Kwarans have long waited to disrobe  Saraki in the market place but curiously; the national leadership of APC wants to robe him for its interest other than that of the people of the state. The leadership of the party have only and merely provided him a temporary lifeline as the people of Kwara are wiser and now have taken their decision and destiny in their hands,” he said.

But Afolayan described Saraki as a team player, who believes that all the members of the party are important. He added that Saraki and Ahmed were more concerned with the continued transformation of the state and not with squabbles for party offices.

According to him, APC would accommodate all interests and ensure that the members were all carried along.

He said, “Saraki and Ahmed did not say that they are going to APC to take over everything. These are leaders that believe in egalitarian society. The door is open so that we can integrate ourselves well and give ourselves a sense of belonging so that we can together forge ahead with the Kwara project.

 “Today, what is paramount in the minds of the leaders is that Kwara must keep on developing. It is not about one individual. I want Belgore to have a broad mind, stay with us in APC.”

Adding another dimension to the political squabbles and developments in the state, Olusona, in a statement, announced the birth of new APC. He stated that the new APC will salvage APC from what he called ‘imminent implosion.’ He appealed to APC members not to leave the party.

“We appeal to our members to share in our optimism while they also remain steadfast within the party as we seek avenues for a peaceful, but reasonable resolution built on justice and fairness. Up till now, we have not lost hope that our party can be salvaged. We have this implicit confidence in the ability of the leaders of the APC to retrace their steps.

“For the umpteenth time, we reiterate that any arrangement that cedes the structure of Kwara APC in favour of the new entrants will lead to the defeat and humiliation of the party in 2015. Any assumed peace predicated on injustice will breed tsunami-like crises. Should the APC be allowed to implode on the altar of this so-called political expedience, the hopes of millions of Nigerians would suffer,” Olusona said.

Not only did APC members squabble over party structure, the Saraki faction and PDP members last Tuesday fought over the PDP’s secretariat at Nupe Road, Government Reservation Area, Ilorin.

The Saraki faction in APC and the surviving PDP members had been enmeshed in a contest over the ownership of the secretariat after the defection of Saraki political machinery to the APC.

Trouble started when PDP members took over the secretariat even as there was strict resistance from Saraki loyalists. The PDP members and their newly inaugurated caretaker committee had been at the secretariat about 9a.m on that day despite the presence of many fully armed anti-riot policemen that had been stationed also with many patrol vans at the two entrances of the secretariat.

At about 1pm, other members of the PDP, which included caretaker committee member, Rex Olawoye, entered the secretariat and raised the PDP flags inside the premise. Former nPDP members who had gathered in hundreds at one entrance were consequently angered and reportedly pulled down the PDP flags.

However, the timely intervention of the policemen prevented the degeneration of the conflict.

While the politicians from both the APC and PDP battle over political control and relevance, the people of Kwara are more concerned about the way governance would breathe life into public infrastructure such as schools, hospitals, roads, markets, and enhance security, employment and commerce.