2019: Kwara APC presents united front

Following the results of its recent reconciliation efforts, the Kwara State chapter of All Progressives Congress is more confident to take over the governance of the state in 2019, reports Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan

AHEAD of the next general election in the state scheduled for the early parts of next year, the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State has moved to put its house in order as it reconciles all its chieftains and members across the state while calling on those who were aggrieved as a result of the outcomes of the last primary elections, to look beyond their personal losses and focus on the task ahead.

Leaders of the party in the state, while speaking to The Nation on ongoing efforts to further position the APC as the party to beat in the state, revealed that party chieftains and members, especially aspirants of the party across the state, are daily making huge sacrifices to keep the party united and strong in their quest to ensure that the APC displace the current Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state come 2019.

The APC leaders claim that the PDP administration has been unable to meet the yearnings of the people of the state, and as such, Kwarans at home and in the diaspora have been calling on the APC to come to their rescue. The party says it is ready to provide a virile alternative to the ‘failed government given to the good people of Kwara state for so many years.”

Chairman of the APC in the state, Hon. Bashir Omolaja Bolarinwa, while speaking on the development, assured the people of the state that the APC is united and determined to bring change to Kwara State. According to the party leader, the new leadership of the APC in the state has displayed uncommon courage in the manner it has repositioned the party within the short time it came on board.

“Our case in Kwara State is a good example; after the ouster of a bloc that had hitherto held sway in the state cum party, we had the daunting task of reorganising the party, conducting fresh registration, embarking on a credible nomination process and holding party primaries. We opted for the most sophisticated of all modes of primary as recognised by our party constitution.

“We confronted the challenges headlong not without bruises, anyway. While focusing on the ball, we believe that the pains cannot be forever. Our strength has always come from the good people of the state who are not only wishing us well but keep following our activities, thereby offering invaluable counsels now and then. We have held no fewer than four important party activities that would have taken a period of four years to achieve.

“For example, membership registration that has been done elsewhere about four years ago was done here in less than a week and almost immediately we entered the next phase of assignment as a party. The membership registration was actually preceded by another rigorous exercise; the choice of party executives at the ward, local government and state levels.

“However, we are grateful to party members for displaying high level of commitment, dedication and readiness to make our political liberation struggle in Kwara State, a done deal. We need to remind ourselves that, what brings us together is stronger than what seeks to divide us. We want to assure you, that in all; lessons have been learnt, therefore, we have the opportunity of improving on our dealings in the coming days,” Bolarinwa said.

Speaking further, the party boss revealed that the APC in Kwara State is currently going through a refining process that will see it coming out much better than it is. “Suffice to add that, gold enters and wriggles in the furnace, only to come out brighter, finer and better. We shall continue to accord our party leaders, members of the executive council at all levels and the teeming supporters their place of pride in the scheme of things.

“We have a duty to appreciate our aspirants for all offices whose efforts put more life into the party. You moved round the state, propagating the ideals of our party. You committed your hard earned resources to the process. We don’t have enough words to appreciate you. We are grateful to the father of the party, President Muhammadu Buhari, for finding time out to meet with our governorship aspirants and stakeholders in the party from Kwara State.

“We want to assure our members and the good people of Kwara State that the gains of our visit to the President at the instance of the Honourable Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, will manifest soon. The stability role played by the National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, in the whole process is highly appreciated,” he added.

The spokesperson of the party in the state and a House of Representatives aspirant during the primary elections, Kayode Zubair, in his submission, appreciated the members of the party for their patience and selflessness. According to him, it is the readiness of party leaders and members to make sacrifices and shift grounds when necessary that saw the party through the crisis that could have engulfed it during the primary election.

He thanked God that some people well known for their selfish approach to politics left the party before now, saying it wouldn’t have been as easy as it turned out to resolve differences and grievances if those people were still in the party. “They left and returned to the PDP to continue their ‘grab-grab’ kind of politics. With their exit, it is now easier for us to manage our differences as loyal members of the same party,” he said.

“The formation of the All Progressives Congress (APC) few years back was made possible by the vast majority of Nigerians that were yearning for positive change in the polity. We enjoyed the confidence and support of people from different backgrounds, particularly the masses that voted en-mass for us during the 2015 elections, which benefitted many, including those who sought asylum in the party.

The wide acceptability the party enjoys amongst all and sundry was not only the saving grace for those that would have ordinarily been rejected by the electorates, but the straw they held unto, when they would have been consumed.  It is on this premise that we have weathered all manners of challenges within the short time of our existence without losing face with our friends – Nigerian masses,” the party spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, the state chapter of the APC also showed its appreciation to the national leadership of the party for the engagement of one of its own, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, into the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party as the National Publicity Secretary, saying the development is worthy of being celebrated. According to Kwara APC, the state chapter now has a face in the national secretariat and a capable hand in the NWC.

“We must also congratulate our governorship candidate, Alhaji Abdulraham Abdulrasaq, and all other candidates of our dear party, on their emergence as flagbearers of the party. They must continue to bear in mind that they have been pushed forward to help in ending maladministration, incompetency and high handedness in the corridors of power in Kwara State.

The time to end misrule that bred impunity in our dear state is now. We can assure our members, supporters and good people of Kwara State that every aggrieved person or member will be reached in the coming days, so as to present a united front that will dislodge the pretenders in government.  We will continue to rely on the support, counsels and prayers of our members, supporters and the good people of Kwara State as we walk into 2019 to elect true representatives for our people,” Bolarinwa added.

On his part, Abdulrasaq, the party’s gubernatorial flag-bearer, said President Buhari had, during the week, given the party the marching order to take over the mantle of leadership in Kwara. He said the President’s request would be democratically implemented by the party as the people of the state had since expressed their readiness to make the Saraki political dynasty a history in the state.

“Kwara has become a must win state for the APC. The President has given us a marching order to take over the mantle of leadership in Kwara when we went to see him after a very competitive and rigorous primary election in which over 10,000 party members voted. We had our difficulties but we came to tell him that all is well. We are in unison and he has given us marching order to go and take Kwara. So, Saraki is history because we are looking at Kwara Government House,” he said.

The APC flagbearer said he would initiate and implement policies and programmes that would transform the state, improve the welfare of the residents and create an environment conducive to business growth and security as well as wealth and employment creation. “The struggle to liberate Kwara is a cause I have consistently devoted my strength, sincere comradeship and resources to, for a very long time.

“Our people have suffered for too long, begging for a drop of an ocean that actually belongs to them. This is the time we come together to end their pain. Those who have sat on our commonwealth for long know that to liberate a people, they must first be empowered. That is why they stop at nothing to make sure the majority of Kwarans remain dependent on them,” he said.

The Chairman, Kwara State Liberation Group, Dr. Amuda Aluko, said with the new found unity and determination reigning supreme within the party across the state, Kwara State is set to be liberated from the current political leadership headed by the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki. He urged the people of the state to put their trust in the APC as the 2019 election draws nearer.

“With all the governorship aspirants of the party now ready to work with Abdulrazaq in our determination to unseat the PDP led by Saraki in 2019, I am very sure freedom has finally come for our people after so many years of political and financial suppression by just a few people. We are united in APC because we realise the huge task ahead of us,” he explained.

The party has also assured aggrieved members of fair, just and equitable treatment in the scheme of things. The assurance came on the heels of a protest by some members alleging unfair treatment of their aspirants during the party’s recent primaries. The protesters, who claimed to be concerned foundation members of the party in the state, laid siege to the secretariat on old Jebba Road in Ilorin, the state capital, since last Saturday. They have been sleeping on mats at the secretariat.

Vice Chairman of the party in the state, Samari Abdullahi, said the protesters would not do anything that will affect the chances of the party in next year’s polls. “We will continue in this struggle until success is ours, so that there will be a change for good in Kwara State where every Kwaran will be happy. The people you are seeing here are well behaved. These are foundation members of APC in the state.

“They are people who will want the progress and development of the party in the state. They will not do anything that will not augur well for the party. They are not complaining par say about the outcome of the primaries. What they are complaining about is that, as foundation members, most of their aspirants have been side-lined. They are not even sure that after the formation of government, they may not be carried along in the distribution of positions.

“I think that is their major concern. It is not that they have a major grievance against the primaries. We have spoken to them and made sure that party leadership in Abuja is aware of what is happening here. Hopefully, a meeting is going on now where we believe that most of their demands would be met. I want to assure all that it is a family affair. It is not that they are protesting against the party,” Abdullahi said.