By DARE ODUFOWOKAN

Ahead of the rescheduled nationwide state congresses of the ruling All Progressives Congress, (APC) ‘Dare Odufowokan, Assistant Editor, reports that the lingering crisis within the Kwara State chapter of the party is not ebbing.

Last week, the ruling All Progressives Congress, (APC) announced that it has rescheduled its nationwide State Congresses earlier slated for October 2.

Following the new arrangement, the congresses are now expected to hold nationwide on Saturday, October 16, 2021. Though the national leadership of the party said it shifted the congresses to honour the country’s 61st independence anniversary, some reliable party sources revealed that the shift was due to logistic challenges and the need to carry every stakeholder along.

Secretary of the APC Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, Sen John James Akpanudoedehe, while explaining the shift, had said.

“The need to honour the country’s 61st Independence anniversary, which holds a day before the initial date fixed for the state congresses, informed the new date. Governors, ministers, and party members will be involved in the Independence celebrations in their various states. The party decided to reschedule the state congresses to allow all our members to participate in the Independence celebration.”

But party sources said that the exercise was postponed due to obvious problems of logistics and also to create room for reconciliation in some flashpoint states to avoid further crisis and even cancellation of the poll results.

“Beyond the reason adduced for the shift, there are still problems in some state chapters that require some attention. More so, there are still major problems as regards the logistics that should be in place for the exercise to hold smoothly across the country. These are the real reasons for the shift,” a source claimed.

Kwara State appears to be one of such states where the party is having problems ahead of the rescheduled state congresses. Rather than abate, the crisis rocking the state chapter of the ruling party is festering with observers saying the forthcoming congress may be the last straw that will break the camel’s back and worsen the situation within the party beyond redemption. This is because in spite of several efforts to reconcile them, the two warring factions within the APC in the state are adamant in their stances.

As the state congresses draw closer, then two factions are still at war over the concluded ward and local government congresses held in the state. While the faction loyal to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq insists that the congresses were free, fair and credible, the faction led by Information Minister, Lai Mohammed, is unrelenting in its rejection of the entire processes. This is even after the national secretariat has ordered the swearing in of ward and local government party officials elected at the two congresses in the state.

Speaking on the forthcoming congress in the state, Samari Abdulahi, acting State Chairman, said “We conducted ward and local government congresses peacefully in Kwara State before and I believe the state congress too will also be peaceful.”

But Hassan Saad-Danladi, chieftain of the APC and former state secretary of the defunct Alliance for Democracy (AD), told The Nation that the planned state congress cannot be satisfactory. “Just as the congresses held so far were unsatisfactory, the state congress will do more harm to the unity of the party than good unless certain issues are addressed urgently,” he said.

Parallel congresses

Last July, the two major warring factions of the APC in Kwara State, held their separate ward congresses across the 193 wards of the state, in spite of stern warning by the national leadership of the party against parallel congresses.

The faction loyal to Governor Abdulrazaq elected its new ward party executives through consensus and affirmation.

The exercise was described as hugely successful at various designated venues.

Samari said “Our men went to the field with the objective of consensus all through as a preference that will further unite the APC family and exactly that is what we had today.”

But the Lai Mohammed and Bashir Omolaja Bolarinwa’s faction in the party also held its own ward congresses in the 193 wards of the state. Bolarinwa, while speaking to The Nation after the exercise, described the exercise as successful and peaceful.

“Our ward congresses were peaceful and perfect, we elected ward executives in all the 193 wards and all the names have been submitted to the state party secretariat in Ilorin,” he added.

The Minister also attested to the success of the ward congresses saying the members of the party have chosen their leaders peacefully across the state.

The local government congresses too were held at the LG secretariats of the two factions across the 16 local government areas of the state, to elect their executives. Both factions adopted consensus arrangements for the congresses as encouraged by the national secretariat. Samaila Ibrahim, a chieftain of the APC loyal to the Information Minister, led by Bolarinwa, himself a former chairman of the party in the state, insisted that the faction held peaceful exercises across the state.

He said all officers of the party in the local government were elected through consensus arrangement.

Similarly, the faction loyal to Governor AbdulRazaq, headed by Samari, claimed it conducted its primaries across the state smoothly. Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Rafiu Ajakaye, recalled that the congresses took off amidst fanfare. He said delegates for the congress were peaceful in electing new leaders through the affirmation of consensus list earlier agreed to by all the stakeholders.

“The delegates’ election started in every part of the state under a peaceful atmosphere and close supervision by the APC team from Abuja and INEC officials deployed for the exercise,” he said.

Consequent to the parallel congresses in Kwara, the party’s Appeal Committee on Local Government Congress from the National Secretariat last month assured that none of the aggrieved members of the party will be shut out from the ruling party.

The appeal committee, therefore, called on the members that have genuine petitions against the last local government congress of the party not to hesitate to present them for proper attention. The Chairman of the committee, Hon. Taminu Adabson, gave the assurance in Ilorin during the APC state stakeholders committee meeting held at Banquet Hall, Government House, Ilorin, the state capital.

But Checks by The Nation revealed that while the results of the two congresses held by the faction loyal to the governor appear to have been accepted with officers elected at their own congresses sworn in, chieftains of the other faction remain aggrieved and unwilling to accept what they described as gross injustices on the part of the Governor Mai Mala Buni-led national caretaker committee of the APC.

“As it is, many party chieftains and members are waiting for the state congress in Kwara state to show the whole world that they are not ready to accept what is going on,” Saad-Danladi told our correspondent on Thursday.

Widening cracks

Akogun Iyiola Oyedepo, a chieftain of the party in the State, again on Tuesday accused the governor of being the main threat to peace within the party. Oyedepo warned that there is no way the party can move forward in Kwara as it was presently constituted.

“There are too many irreconcilable differences. It is not just to talk about reconciliation. Only one person is destroying the party and that’s the governor himself. If you have the courage to say this, I will appreciate it. He’s the only one destroying the party,” he said.

“If the APC should retain Kwara in the 2023 elections, the leadership of the party must make sure Abdulrazaq didn’t re-contest. If the APC leadership still wants Kwara to be won by the party, the first thing they should do is to remove Abdulrahman and don’t allow him to contest in 202. The national secretariat of the party must ensure that Governor Abdulrazaq conducts free, fair and transparent elections within the party. If that one isn’t done if Abdulrazaq is still the governor, there would be no way for APC in the state,” he added.

Describing the performance of the governor as below par, Oyedepo added that,

“I didn’t see anything that he’s doing that’s so exciting, which makes him remarkably different from the people we uprooted. We complain that the past administration wasn’t doing local government elections; I was on the radio several times, this one is even worse. If they fail to remove Abdulrahman or permit us to remove him on our own, I’m not saying they should remove him undemocratically. I’m saying they should organise a free, fair and transparent congress, which would eventually get him removed.”

However, Samari said it is not true that the crisis within the party cannot be resolved through dialogue. He expressed confidence that reconciliation is possible.

“APC as a party, we are certainly not going to close our doors to resolving any genuine internal grievances, if any, in strict compliance to the party’s laid-down rules. Bonafide members should therefore avail of crisis resolution mechanisms and the time-honoured golden rules of the party, and not allow themselves to be used to mislead the public for the selfish interest of anyone."

Strangely, while conceding that the party witnessed two congresses in the July 31st ward congress, Samari insisted that no parallel congress took place during the local government congresses of the party in the state, contrary to claims by chieftains of the other faction.

“Unlike the ward congress which involved all party members, the local congress was not an all-comers’ affair. It was strictly a delegates’ election in which only accredited delegates, including elected statutory delegates, are allowed to take part. It is in fact a constitutional requirement for the delegates’ list to be made available to Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), police prior to the commencement of voting at the congress venue. The exercise must also be conducted by accredited party officials and duly monitored by INEC to be called a lawful congress.

“This is exactly the procedures we followed as a party. Any group of persons who claimed to conduct anything contrary to this in Kwara or anywhere else are just a bunch of jokers and mischief makers who should never be taken serious. We are glad that the national secretariat of our party has also made this very clear, especially in the light of some misleading reports on the congress. The party’s rules and guidelines are very clear. The consequences for anyone flouting the guidelines, thereby bringing the party to ridicule for their own selfish agenda, are also very clear and we are glad the national secretariat of the party has also spoken in this regard."

But speaking recently on the crisis within the party, the Integrity Group within the APC said it will not work with the governor’s faction of the party. Represented by the Vice Chairman, Isiaka Alao, the group declared that,:

“We are not, and shall not be part of the unilateral “consensus” arrangement being proposed by the governor’s group. The beauty of democracy is in allowing minority to have their say, even when majority have their way. The only civilised way to prove our numerical values is through congresses, not by any proxy.

“With regret, it has become an open secret that our governing party in this state is critically ill, lying in the operation theatre for surgery. We hereby express our confidence and unflinching support for Alhaji Lai Mohammed and Senator Gbemisola Ruqayyat Saraki for being good ambassadors of Kwara State as Honourable Ministers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We deeply and passionately appreciate their contributions to upholding the honour and glory of APC in this state. We cannot but eulogise Hon. Bashir Omolaja Bolarinwa for his sense of maturity, sacrifices and uprightness that have been sustaining the party till date,” he added.

Can peace be restored?

Commenting on the disagreement within the Kwara state chapter of the APC recently, Governor Buni, chairman of the national caretaker committee of the party, was quoted as saying the leadership of the party is focused on building a strong and united party, and as such, will do everything possible to reconcile the warring factions in the state. But pundits say months after he made the promise, there is nothing to show that efforts are being made to bring peace to Kwara APC.

“The national leadership of the party will continue to support unity and progress of APC in Kwara state. As you are aware; the Caretaker Committee is repositioning the party, reconciling differing opinions to build strong and united membership that will improve the fortunes of our party. The leadership of the party has great respect for due process, discipline and all programmes that will contribute to making it stronger,” the Yobe State governor was quoted as saying.

Days after Buni’s assurance, the APC suspended eleven members of the party believed to be loyalists of Lai Mohammed for allegedly indulging in anti-party activities.

The suspension letter, dated February 5, 2021, was signed by the National Secretary, Caretaker/Extra-ordinary National Convention Planning Committee, Sen. James Akpanudoedehe.

They were punished for dragging the Samari and the party to court. The eleven party men had approached the court to demand the removal of Samari as state chairman.

Those affected are Joseph Tsado, Bamidele Ogunbayo, Issa Fulani, Imam Abdulkadir, Morufu Olaniyi Yusuf, Saludeen Lukman, Kerebu Fatai, Bola Ajani, Nurudeen Fasasi, Salman Shehu Babatunde and Abdullateef Ahmed Kolawole.

The Minister’s group had opposed the removal of Bolarinwa as the caretaker chairman of the party in Kwara state and his replacement with Samari, his erstwhile deputy.

Speaking recently on the crisis, former governorship aspirant of the APC in Kwara State, Mallam Saliu Mustapha assured that peace can still be restored in the ruling party.

Recalling that the crisis started too early in the life of the current administration, he expressed confidence that chieftains and members can still resolve all contending issues once they are willing.

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