- He Is A Despot Who Cannot Win Any Election Without Federal Might
- Saraki Is Ready To Accommodate Our Hosts – Afolayan
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Just as the politicians who defected to the All Progressives Congress, (APC) from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Adamawa, Kano, Sokoto etc are having issues of supremacy with some leaders of the host strucutures, so is the case in the north central state of Kwara. To them, Dr Bukola Saraki who is leading the defectors is not an asset but a liability.As was the case in 2003 when the Saraki (the father of Bukola) folks decamped from a divided All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) to the PDP, they took over the structure they met in their host party, the decampees to the PDP were eyeing to take over the structures they met in the APC while the hosts are insisting they do not need Bukola and his invading marauders to win an election in the state.
Three opposition political parties merged to form the current APC. To them, they are much stronger now and can win any elections in the state without the overbearing influence of the Saraki folks which included the machinery of the state government which is like cash wads in Saraki’s wallet.
A former governorship candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Mr. Dele Belgore (SAN), is the leader of the host APC members opposed to Saraki’s take-over of the party structure they met on ground.
According to a leading member of the Belgore group, Reverend Bunmi Olusona, who was also a gubernatorial candidate in the 2003 elections that produced Saraki’s first term, he said in a statement released in Ilorin made available to www.gongnews.net
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, who is a lecturer in the University of Ilorin and a native of the ethnic stock where Saraki comes from, also explained the group’s stand in an interview with our correspondent.
Omo-Iya said, “Saraki is a soloist and despot. He is not a team player. Some of us cannot work with him. That was why we were in the APC at the very beginnng. Now that he has come to the APC, and it is being speculated that APC has handed over the party structure to him from the national secretariat, that means some individuals own that party and not we who constitute the party.
“It equally means that the party is no longer a political 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. It is that simple and logical.”
He said that the structure of the party cannot 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 that is mving into the APC, had told Saturday PUNCH in an interview that claims that Saraki was a despot were untrue.
He described Saraki as a grassroots 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 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 two sides, the national secretariat of the APC has set up a reconciliation committee led by former Edo state governor, Chief Oyegun to broker workable arrangement between the feuding Kwara party members.
Former chairman of the factional PDP, Alhaji Kawu baraje is to lead the reconciliation team to some other states of the federation where they are having similar challenges while the Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari, and a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Masari have been saddled with brokering the peace between Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau-led former members of the ANPP and the Kano State Governor, Rabiu Kwankwaso.
These various reconciliation teams were given the task of drawing up a workable arrangement to accommodate the two leaders and their followers in the various states and to prepare the ground for the party’s mobilisation and registration of members scheduled to begin this month nationwide.
Source: gongnews
