. Why information minister called him ‘One chance governor’
.APC’s internal wrangling may cost it next elections – Pundits
A horde of high and low intrigues currently afflicts Kwara State, like a swarm of tropical mosquitoes. The hidden afflictions of the state have finally begun to manifest on the corridors of power and the public space. Predictably, its a disaster.
The Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed’s recent public attack on the state governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq in Ilorin, the state capital, further attests that all is not well with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and Governor Abdulrazaq’s administration.
There is no gainsaying that the different forces that closed ranks within the APC to oust their common enemy, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and ex-Senate President and two-time governor of the state, Bukola Saraki, in 2019 are currently at loggerheads.
Two years after achieving this feat, the structure is gradually collapsing and the ‘O to ge,’ a moniker from the Yoruba translation of “Enough is Enough”, which was formed in 2019, ahead of the general election, to dethrone the Saraki dynasty in the state, has been sorely corrupted.
A dark pall of discord and internal wrangling impedes the strides of the APC-led government. It foreshadows grievous spells of mayhem for the APC as the governor engage his sworn enemy, Mohammed for control of the party structure in the state.
Mohammed on Saturday in Ilorin, the state capital, took a swipe at Governor Abdulrazaq and his supporters over the recent leadership crisis rocking the APC in the state.
Mohammed literally threw caution to the wind and called out the governor as he openly condemned him and lamented that, “We were warned about his choice then but failed to listen.”
Mohammed who was in Ilorin to commission the new party secretariat of his much preferred Bashir Bolarinwa led faction of the party practically drew the battle line and said, “It has gotten to the point where we have to speak out. We have been pushed to the wall and we have no choice to come out and exposed their lies and pretensions.
“It was immediately after the Governor emerged as the party’s candidate for the election that it dawned on us that we have entered one chance.
“But despite all the warnings from concerned party leaders and others who had reservations about his choice, our reaction then was that no matter what, his choice was better than where we were coming from. But we were wrong,” he added.
Reacting to the call by the governor for Mohammed and other party leaders to account for the funds that accrued to the party during the campaign, the minister said:
“I never diverted All Progressives Congress (APC) 2019 general elections for my personal use as alleged by Kwara State Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq.”
By the grace of God, I single-handedly with the support of friends, politicians and family raised all the monies for the Oke-Ero/Isin/Ekiti/Irepodun Federal Constituency bye-election of November 2019 that brought Hon. Tunji Olawuyi to the House of Representatives.
“And I challenge anybody here to say he gave the party one penny apart from what I gave them. I challenge anybody here to say he gave logistics support to the party too. I did that by the grace of God and I distributed 500 motorcycles and 20 vehicles. And many of the beneficiaries are here today.”
Mohammed challenged Abdulrazaq to “explain to Nigerians about what happened to the N70million that Hon Olawuyi released but the governor refused to give us during the bye-election,” stressing that he had to lobby friends to raise another N150 million to prosecute that election.
“When elections proper came, we did not see our governorship candidate. We could not wait. I say without any fear of contradictions that by the grace of God, with the money raised from friends, colleagues and associates we financed the four elections and we scored 100 per cent.”
On the forthcoming state congresses nationwide, Mohammed said that: “The Acting National Chairman of APC, Mai Mala Buni has assured us that no congress will take place in Kwara State until all our members are registered. And that the congress will be free and fair by the grace of God.
“About two weeks ago, myself in the company of for governorship aspirant, Prof Shuaib AbdulRaheem and others went to meet with the chairman and he assured us that Kwara State is a special case and there will be no congress until we are all registered. And we believe him. When they come, please come out in your thousands and let them know where the power lies.”
All is certainly not well with the APC in Kwara State; the protracted impasse between Mohammed and Abdulrazaq has severely polarised the party thus leading political pundits and keen watchers of the developments in the state to conclude that the ruling party may lose the next elections.
