The lingering crisis in the Kwara state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is yet to wane, just as a new dimension creeps up, KEHINDE OSASONA writes.
Barely months into the administration of the Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq-led administration in Kwara state, power tussle, which has now taken a new twist, reportedly torn APC in the state into shreds. No thanks to the protracted fracas between the number one citizen in the state and the embattled Chairman of the party, Hon. Bashir Omolaja Bolarinwa, on one part and other party stalwarts on the other side.
As the crisis escalated, occasional face-off arising from splinter groups and factions has equally aided the in-fighting but as the crisis was yet to wane, some pundits in the political pundits have described the development as pig fight, while others have tagged the battle amongst the political gladiators as ‘Fight to the death’.
Several attempt by the APC national leadership of the party to reconcile warring factions have failed.
According to an Abuja-based political commentator and analyst, Femi Awoyale, the challenges was on the verge of killing a party once prided as credible alternative via the ‘O tooge’ revolution.
He regretted that the future is bleak, adding that the implication was that the party would be polarized further and may go into extinction.
The rebellion
What is new in the crisis is the fact that the narrative has changed and a new political organisation, Kwara Third Force, has emerged from the state congress of the APC.
This is as the defectors have also torn their APC membership cards and burnt the party symbol of brooms in rebellion, even as they have alleged the plot to marginalise them ahead of the 2023 general elections.
Speaking on behalf of members of the Kwara Third Force at a press conference held after the group’s launch in Ilorin on Saturday, the former APC Chairman in Kwara Central, Alhaji Abdulrahman Abdulfatai said about 20,000 aggrieved party members in the state had forged a political alliance.
“It is impossible to achieve the developmental goals we are aiming for Kwarans in the midst of the chaotic situation we find ourselves in Kwara APC,” he stated.
The aggrieved members, including ward chairmen, local government chairmen, women leaders, youth leaders and members across the16 local government areas in the state, among others, accused Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq and his loyalists in the party of alleged disenfranchisement in the recent APC membership registration and revalidation exercise.
According to Abdulfatai, “As you are all aware, Kwara APC has been enmeshed in one crisis or the other almost immediately after the party’s governorship primary, stretching into the campaign period and lingering up to date.
“The crisis got to its peak with the recently concluded APC membership revalidation and registration exercise in the state that was flawed with deliberate policies and grand orchestrations to deregister and selected members of the party.
“The success of a political party is anchored on its popularity, intra-party membership cohesion, integrity and sincere commitment to the service of the masses. All these are glaringly diminishing in Kwara APC as it is now.
“A grand design that denied the majority of party members the opportunity to register and revalidate their membership across the state is a 2023 permutation agenda. We can never cross our fingers and watch the game from the sidelines.”
He dismissed efforts to address the lingering crisis in the party, describing that the agenda to deregister revalidate thousands of their members across the state by refusing to revalidate them as a grand plot that has the backing of the National Caretaker Committee of the party.
“From the above highlighted points, we, representing the hundreds of thousands disenfranchised card-carrying members of the APC, including state exco, local government party chairmen, local government women leaders, youth leaders, ward chairmen, as well as APC party stalwarts across the 16 LGAs in the state hereby denounce APC and form a Kwara Third Force of like mind across party lines,” Abdulfatai added.
The former APC stalwart added that although the defectors had yet to move to any of the other registered political parties, saying they would wait and study the situation before joining a new party.
He nevertheless denied joining the Young Progressives Party, adding that their new platform would be unveiled in due course.
But in a swift response, the Chairman of APC Caretaker Committee in the state, Alhaji Abdullahi Samari, castigated the group stating, “In as much as I don’t want people to leave the party, as few people are defecting, many people are coming into the APC and they are people of substance who are full of ideas.”
Samari, who said people were not prevented from joining the APC in the state or prevented from renewing their registrations during the recent registration/revalidation exercise, stated that he had received no complaint from anyone that he was not allowed to register.
Who blinks first?
As the name-calling was yet to simmer, the Publicity Secretary, APC Caretaker Committee in the state, Tajudeen Aro, had cited gross indiscipline under the suspended party chairman Bolarinwa.
Aro, who spoke at a meeting of stakeholders in information management held in Ilorin, insisted that Bolarinwa was removed by the APC national caretaker committee led by Yobe state Governor, Mai Mala Buni, and replaced with Abdullahi Samari in January.
According to him, the move allegedly widened a rift between the governor AbdulRazaq, and a group of party leaders led by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed.
He added that despite the intervention of the national body and executives of the North Central zone of the party, the factions have remained at war.
The crisis, he recalled, has degenerated to the point that the party’s membership revalidation and registration exercise was rejected by Mohammed, who said the process was not transparent and was skewed in favour of the governor’s faction.
Political observers believe the rift may affect the party in future elections unless it finds a way to resolve it.
Mr Aro, while admonishing members of the party on the role of the media in the activities of political parties, said a “high level of indiscipline (was) being exhibited in the party before it was rescued from the retrogressive forces with the suspension of the former caretaker chairman.
“We must not allow this to continue in our party. The party has a constitution which states very clearly how information should be disseminated, but today, every Dick and Harry rush to media houses to vent their personal anger on their perceived enemies without availing themselves of internal mechanism of conflict resolution in the party,” he said.
He said the party’s success in the 2019 elections created a division which has polarised the ranks of the party, even as he accused some party members of wrong use of the media.
“The present government in the state is being devalued for selfish and untenable reasons by some people who are supposed to protect and launder its image.
“One major benefit effective communication has in resolving a conflict is the resultant reduction in anxiety, whether within a family or in the workplace. Using effective verbal and nonverbal communication further contributes to a successful resolution of conflict, either between individuals or within a group.
“We found ourselves in the mess that plagued the party in the last two years majorly because the leadership handled the issue of the media with reckless abandon and insensitivity.
“The office of the party publicity secretary at wards, LGA and state was treated with disdain and absolute neglect. There were no provision for media gadgets and equipment. Funds were not provided for day to day running of this very important organ of the party, particularly during electioneering campaign.
“Gone are the days when publicity secretaries were reduced to mere letter/circular distributors. The scope of the media has widened tremendously which has made its working very expensive. A serious-minded party must pay serious attention to its media outfit,” Aro said.
The party’s spokesperson, who said the publicity secretaries must be on guard at all time, noted that: “In this regard, I want to charge the publicity secretaries to work with all relevant stakeholders, like the government, party media influencers and opinion leaders within the party. It is our responsibility to protect, project and defend the image of the party at all time.”
Integrity Group joins the fray
Recently, another faction known as the Integrity Group has lamented that there cannot be any congress in the party until all loyal members are duly registered.
The Publicity Secretary of the group, Mr Abdul-Rahoof Bello, while reacting to a statement credited to the factional chairman of the party, Sanmari, claiming the party was only waiting for congresses in the state and not registration/revalidation exercise stated: “The AA faction of APC is into another scandalous inversion of the truth about the current development in the party, with regards to membership registration/revalidation exercise in Kwara State.
“Earlier this week, it would be recalled that the factional Chairman of AA group, Mallam Abdullahi Sanmari had boasted in the media that they were only waiting for congresses, not a rerun of registration/revalidation exercise in this State,” Bello said.
According to him, the said statement contradicted the irreversible decision of the APC National Caretaker Committee that no congresses shall hold in Kwara until the teeming majority of loyal party members were duly registered or got their membership revalidated.
“It was public knowledge that the APC Appeal Committee that received the genuine complaints of marginalisation by the Hon. Bashir Ọmọlaja Bolarinwa group had recommended a rerun of the exercise to avoid the eminent painless killing of the party in Kwara state.
“Not taking chances, the loyal party members’ tactical committee met with the National Caretaker Chairman, Gov. Mai Mala Buni, where the decision to reopen the registration/revalidation exercise was obtained.
“However, having been properly guided, the AA group was trying to be clever by half by attempting to change the narrative to the dubious one week extension to accommodate some dregs of fictitious political parties in the state, as if it was at their instance,” the spokesman said.
End in sight?
As the 2023 general elections approaches, stakeholders have proffered that the only solution for peace to reign in Kwara APC for factional leaders to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for oneness and unity.
They also adduced that the state governor should be magnanimous in victory and carry all members along in governance irrespective of deliberate inaction to address the lingering crisis in Kwara APC by concerned stakeholders in Abuja and Kwara.
