The governorship candidate of the Kabiru Turaki-led faction of the Peoples Democratic Party in Kwara State, Hassan Oladimeji, has declared that former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, is no longer his political leader, insisting that he now belongs to a different camp within the opposition party.

Hassan made the declaration on Saturday while reacting to his recent suspension by the Magaji Ngeri Ward leadership of the PDP and the growing factional crisis rocking the party at both the national and state levels.

Addressing the internal divisions within the PDP, he said he had formally parted ways with the faction aligned with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, and was now fully committed to the Turaki-led structure, which he described as the authentic leadership of the party.

He said, “First of all, on the issue of faction, it’s a well-known fact that there are two factions in PDP — the Wike-led and the Turaki-led factions.”

“By my political association, I’ve been a member of the Wike faction. But I have since left them. I am no longer part of them. So, I belong to the Turaki camp,” he added.

The governorship candidate dismissed his suspension by the ward leadership as baseless, arguing that a faction he no longer belonged to lacked the authority to discipline him.

“If I don’t belong to you, who are you suspending? So, the suspension is baseless, meaningless because you can’t suspend someone who isn’t a part of you,” Hassan stated.

He further maintained that he occupies a position within the Turaki-led interim National Working Committee of the PDP and therefore remains an active member of the faction’s national structure.

“I am a member of the Turaki-led interim National Working Committee of PDP. If you look at the day former President Goodluck Jonathan was adopted as the presidential candidate, you’ll see that I featured prominently. So, how will you suspend someone who has left you? It doesn’t make sense,” he added.

On the possibility of reconciliation within the party, Hassan said politics thrives on dialogue and compromise, lamenting what he described as the refusal of some leaders to embrace discussions that could have prevented the current crisis.

“Politics is a continuous process. It’s a matter of interest. You can always meet. You can agree and disagree. When there are rooms for reconciliation, you’ll sit down and discuss. That is what is lacking in my previous place; you don’t have room for talk.

“There’s usually a period to sit down and talk. When that opportunity comes, we’ll sit down and talk. We have advised severally, even before we got to this level, those who are handling our national affairs to sit down and discuss and handle issues amicably.

“But for one reason or the other — some call it ego, others call it being pompous — they refuse to sit down. If they had sat down to discuss, we wouldn’t get to this level,” he stated.

Hassan also dismissed suggestions that he was working for the ruling All Progressives Congress to weaken the PDP in Kwara State.

“I am not working for APC. APC is a party, PDP is a party, except you want to make me ‘Wike of Kwara’ which I am not prepared to do. Maybe we may have a meeting point, but for now, I am not working for APC. That is categorical. And I don’t work in secret. If I want to do something, I come out openly and do it,” he said.

Addressing his relationship with Saraki, Hassan acknowledged the former Senate President’s influence on his political career but stressed that their political paths had now diverged.

“Yes, Bukola Saraki has been my leader for 25 years. I’ve worked with him for that long. But for now, I am not working for him,” he declared.

“It is known that Wike and Saraki are in the same camp. As far as Kwara State is concerned, for the Wike group, Saraki is the leader. But he can also be the leader of Turaki group; it is not possible.

“We don’t have a Rambo coalition in Kwara. Bukola Saraki is the leader of the Wike/Saraki group. He’s not the leader of the Turaki group. I am a member of the Turaki-led interim National Working Committee,” he said.

The development comes days after the PDP leadership in Magaji Ngeri Ward, Ilorin West Local Government Area, announced Oladimeji’s suspension over alleged anti-party activities and gross misconduct.

In a suspension letter signed on Tuesday by the Ward Chairman, Prince Aliyu Kolawole, and the Ward Secretary and Chairman of the Ward Disciplinary Committee, Taofeek Jimba, the party said Hassan failed to appear before a seven-member committee established to investigate allegations against him despite receiving a formal query.

The ward leadership stated that his refusal to honour the invitation amounted to an admission of guilt and consequently suspended him from all party activities for one month in accordance with relevant provisions of the PDP constitution.

The suspension is the latest chapter in the deepening crisis within the PDP, which has fractured into rival national factions led by Dr. Kabiru Tanimu Turaki and Abdulrahman Mohammed, with both groups claiming legitimacy and operating parallel structures ahead of the 2027 general elections.

In Kwara State, the national dispute has triggered a local split, producing two rival governorship candidates and competing party structures.

Hassan had contested the party’s governorship ticket after signing a consensus arrangement among aspirants but lost the nomination to Engr. Bolakale Kawu, a contest that continues to influence alignments within the opposition party in the state.

While the Saraki-aligned faction recognises Kale Kawu as its candidate, the Turaki-led camp has declared Hassan as its governorship flagbearer, further widening divisions within the opposition party. (Sunday PUNCH)