Tension in Kwara APC as AbdulRazaq, Mohammed Set for Showdown

By Hammed Shittu

Palpable tension has now gripped the ruling Kwara State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) over the conduct of today’s ward congresses in the state as the two warring groups in the party are poised for a showdown.

Already, the two warring groups have obtained nomination forms for the congress and they have mobilised their teeming supporters for the exercise so as to slug it out with each other during the congress.

One group being led by Alhaji Abdullahi Samari is said to have the support of the state governor, Alhaji AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq while the other group led by Hon. Bashr Omolaja Bolarinwa is said to have the support of the Information and Culture Minister, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

While the state secretariat of the group loyal to the governor is located along Commissioner’s Lodge, GRA , Ilorin, the other group loyal to the minister has its state secretariat located at Flower Garden Area, GRA, Ilorin.

The three-member committee of the APC led by Mr. Umar Yusuf from national secretariat, Abuja, have arrived in Ilorin and the committee has been selling nomination forms to the two groups in the party for the contest for various positions in all 193 wards in the state.

A state chairman of the party, Alhaji Abdullahi Samari, on Tuesday at a press conference in Ilorin, said that the members of the party have prepared for the ward congress and warned against disruption of the congress.

He said that, “We are fully prepared for the ward congress and the security agencies have been informed so as to ensure a hitch-free congress on Saturday.”

Also, a group loyal to the minister at a press conference in Ilorin yesterday, said that they have obtained forms from the three-member committee from the national secretariat of the party so as to enable them participate in the Saturday ward congress in the state.

The spokesman of the group who is also the Legal Adviser of the party, Alhaji Ladi Mustapha, said “I am delighted to inform you that we have secured nomination forms for all prospective contestants into positions at the wards and local governments in compliance with the set guidelines for the exercise.

“Furthermore, we have notified the relevant agencies as required by the Electoral Act, 2006 (As Amended). In a nutshell, the ship is smooth sailing towards a safe harbour on this very crucial and important obligation to our party.”

Mustapha added that, “In spite of the unnecessary contours and roadblock mounted by some adversaries of this party, the truth has vindicated the just, that our flight of progress has continued to fly in higher altitudes.

“We have proved to the reactionary group that we are made of stiffer stuff and that the moving train is unstoppable.”

He therefore declared that, “It is difficult to absolve the current national leadership of our party of complicity in the crisis rocking APC in Kwara State today,” adding that, “They have tried all the tricks in the book to pervert the course of justice on issues, but our God is a God of justice.”