An Abuja based Ilorin born legal practitioner, who was a former State House of Assembly aspirant under the All Progressive Congress, Barr Senior Ibrahim Sulyman, speaks with THE INFORMANT247 on the crises within the party hierarchy and the genesis of the unstable political atmosphere in the ruling APC.
The Kwara APC hierarchy is currently sharply divided within itself, can you share with us the genesis of this problem?
Yes, Kwara APC crises is a neccesary consequence of the mistakes by the leadership of the party at the national level during the electioneering period in 2018.
Why is the leadership tussle within the state chapter a mistake from the national secretariat?
You see, after the immediate past Senate President (Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki), who has the majority of the then APC members, led his supporters to the Peoples Democratic Party, the majority members of the then PDP decided to shift base to the APC.
Since Saraki and his followers left with the ward register of members, coupled with the new entrants into the party, it became necessary for a new membership registration to be done in Kwara, which we did.
It is elementary that when people come together to form or join a political party, they for all intent and purpose become members of the new political party and lose their previous identity and every member of the new political party ought be given equal opportunity to vie for any position within the party
Politics they say is a game of number, but in the instant case, a directive was given by the national leadership of the party that party positions from the ward be shared premised on four tendencies.
So, what are the tendencies?
There are two tendencies within the reminant APC and the other two tendencies from those coming from the PDP.
That was the genesis of the crises, it implies anybody that does not belong to any of the four tendencies or groups, no matter how popular at the ward, Local Government or State level will not be able to hold party executive positions.
Did the National APC not give room for any interested party member to contest the primary?
Yes, It was supposed to be a consensus arrangement, but ended up being imposition, in places there were no consensus, imposition was used, the rationale behind some of the ward’s like Baboko and Wara Osin Egbejila holding factional meeting. Since there is no clear cut yardstick for appointing the ward excos.
The mistake was taken too far when the leadership expressly reserved the position of the State chairman to Hon. Bashir Onalaja Bolarinwa (B.O.B). The problem is that there was no Congress at any time for his emergence, whoever that sees things in a contrary way can assist us with date of Congress, no Congress, no contest, so he has no tenure capable of being protected. A simple letter to INEC can show us the date of Congress, when he emerged, if at all there was any?
Why was this not rejected by party members then, why now?
The quietness of political gladiators in the state was necessary for us not to be distracted from the bid to be victorious at the polls, so we all know it can only be a temporary arrangement.
So to name tag state Governor or anybody as causing the ripples within the ruling party in the state is with due respect incorrect. What we have in Kwara is a struggle for and against the injustice of 2018 in the manner of emergence of the party state chairman.
Finally, what do you think is the way forward?
The only way to put an end to the anomaly is to relieve the imposed chairman of his position.