Indication have emerged on how the Kwara State governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq and the Kwara state All Progressive Congress party chairman, Bolarinwa Omolaja Bashir drew battle line against each other barely 100 days after the party take over power from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party.
Any close observer wouldn’t fail to take notice of the very tense political atmosphere within the APC which in recent days almost led to confrontation between supporters of both parties.
The cold war which predates the inauguration of the governor is said according to top sources to be as a result of the governor’s non-committal to following the party’s wish especially in selection of key appointment.
The top source within the governor’s caucus who craved anonymity while speaking with our correspondent said, “The chairman is requesting for the party involvement in the appointment of key government officials. However the governor is not ready to give them the chance as he believed govanance is different from politics, he needs technocrats,”
In appointing the COS, SSG and CPS the governor is said to have taken unilateral decision without consultation with party leadership, this indeed was the second litmus test which – according another source in the party hierarchy – the governor would fail. The party feared the governor might be appointing people close to him with less electoral value and this thus deminishing the party’s popular choice in the forthcoming poll.
“At least the governor should have call to discuss with the party. Look at the recent appointment, no one was involved, we have thousands of people who suffered under the scorching sun and dreaded rainfalls just to put him in office, they ought to be compensated,” a party top party hierarchy confided in this correspondent.
However, the mutual hostility took a new dimension when the party chairman with some of his executives met with the governor to register their displeasure. Our source who attended the meeting said the party chairman, Bolarinwa spoked for about 2 hours, the governor was said to have responded in 5 minutes and call for a closing prayer without allowing Bolarinwa to further comment on his responce. This was said to have triggered immediate hullabaloo that almost led to a physical confrontation between the party executives.
Another inside source comment that “the governor’s handlers are perceiving the handwriting of Lai Mohammad in all these and they are not ready to give him any chance to lead, since the governor is the leader of the party according to the APC constitution.”
It was further gathered that the parallel line drawn from the federal level between the Abba Kyari and Tinubu faction within the presidency might be another internal politics tearing the Kwara APC apart. AbdulRazaq who failed to honour Tinubu’s first litmus assignment of delivering Saheed Popoola as speaker is giving the Lagos cabal no chance to breath in Ilorin, the Kwara seat of power.
That Tinubu facilitated the appointment of Lai Mohammad might not be open to many, but the assignment currently being played – in camera – is obviously felt in the current fued between the governor and party leadership. Tinubu is said to be attempting to hijack Kwara against his 2023 presidential bid.
Though the presidency cabals are not relenting in annexing their stronghold to Kwara, a major stakeholder in the North-Central region, this explains why the seat of power has included AbdulRazaq name as part of the presidential entourage outside of the country on two different occasion.
Now that the governor has disclosed he might be setting his cabinent nextweek, the big question remains, is AbdulRazaq trying to build his political foundation in Kwara or playing the federal game?