Kwara APC crisis deepens as nine LG chairmen back Bolarinwa

Leadership crisis in Kwara State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), which pitched Governor AbdulRaman Abdulrazaq against the embattled Chairman of the party’s Caretaker Committee, Hon. Bashir Bolarinwa, deepens this weekend as nine, out of the 16 local government chairmen of the party, declare support for Bolarinwa.

This is even as some APC youths in the state, who, during the weekend, drummed support for Abdulrazaq openly backed the removal of Bolarinwa as the chairman of the caretaker committee.

The APC youths said they aligned themselves with the appointment of Alhaji Abdullahi Samari to replace Bolarinwa as chairman of the committee.

In what appears to be a reaction to an earlier threat by some youths under the aegis of APC stakeholders to disrupt the forthcoming party’s membership registration exercise of the party in the state if the removal of Bolarinwa by the National Caretaker Committee of the party is not reversed, the APC youths, who back Governor Abdulrazaq, said the governor is the leader of APC in Kwara State and must therefore be respected.

“We expected him (Bolarinwa) to have resigned long ago for his undisguised hatred and disrespect for the state governor and the government elected under the party he led. It is therefore not surprising that the national headquarters of our party has done the needful. We hereby declare our support for Alhaji Abdullahi Samari while urging him to work with every tendency in the party.

“We also warn against anyone wanting to constitute a nuisance under whatever guise. Kwara is a state of harmony and no individual, no matter how highly placed, should be allowed to mess with the peace and security of lives and property in the state,” the youths warned.

However, the nine local government chairmen of the party who pledged their support for Bolarinwa as the authentic State Caretaker Chairman after their meeting yesterday in Ilorin, in a joint statement, unequivocally said he worked hundred per cent for APC’s success during the last general election and should not be removed without a generally acceptable reason.

They said: “The same Bolarinwa knelt down in public to apologise and beg other aggrieved aspirants on behalf of Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq so that they could all work together to achieve the success we are all celebrating today. If Bolarinwa could have knelt down and begged with so much humility, why then is the governor so desperate to remove him?

“Since the emergence of the governor, we have not in any way been able to sleep with our two eyes closed as the plot to destabilize the party keeps kicking day after day with all fingers pointing at the governor.”

The nine APC LG chairmen that signed the resolution are, Ifelodun LG, Hon. Mohammed Shilo Awobimpe; Ilorin East, Elder Babatunde Kolawole Asanlu; Asa, Ahaji Hassan Abdullahi; Irepodun, Hon. Aransiola Oyeyemi Samson; Isin, Hon. Bamidele Ogunbayo; Ahaji Monsuru Ademola of Ilorin South LG, Hon. Taiye Olaniyi of Oyun LG, Hon. Yusuf Abdulganiyu Kehinde of Offa LG and Engr. Muhideen Shittu of Oke Ero LG.

Bolarinwa’s removal as the caretaker committee chairman has further polarized the already embattled Kwara State chapter of APC.