A major crack was yesterday experienced in the house of the All
Progressives Congress (APC) as the two major leaders of the party,
Sen. Bukola Saraki and Alhaji Lai Mohammed, were reported to have
publicly exchanged hot words within the premises of the APC national
secretariat, over the just concluded ward congress in parts of Kwara
Whereas Sen. Saraki is the self-acclaimed leader of the APC in the
state, having defected recently from the Peoples Democratic Party
(PDP) to the APC with huge party machinery, Alhaji Mohammed is the
party’s National Publicity Secretary, who facilitated the smooth
transition of the former to the APC.
Until recently, the two leaders had enjoyed conviviality in their
political relationship. No thanks to the recently concluded wards and
local government congresses of the party, which have now pitched the
two leaders against each other, with their supporters allegedly
already spoiling for war.
The trouble started when, at the meeting called by the APC to
fine-tune the party’s state congress coming up next Saturday, 26th
April, 2014, Sen. Saraki allegedly confronted Alhaji Mohammed with the
allegation of orchestrating ‘frivolous’ petitions against him to the
national leadership of the APC. Saraki had reportedly queried Mohammed
on why he decided to fire up a petition to embarrass him and create a
semblance of crisis when he (Mohammed) could have walked up to him
(Saraki) if he had any grievance over the conduct of the congress in
his local government.
In a response that reportedly drew the attention of passersby, Alhaji
Lai Mohammed was said to have flared up and told Sen. Saraki to his
face that he did not orchestrate any such petition; that he only got
to know of it when as a national leader of the APC from Kwara state, a
copy of the petition was copied to him by the petitioners. This medium
learnt that Alhaji Mohammed, in support of his innocence, argued that
he was in far away US when the petition was written.
Although 247ureports.com can confirm that as at the time the petition
was written, the embattled APC Publicity Secretary was in Washington
D.C at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS)
alongside other Nigerian state leaders, we could not however
independently confirm if he was truly the brain behind the
controversial petition.
However, a dependable source within the APC circle informed E-Kwara
that Alhaji Mohammed might have in fact given the ‘moral impetus’ for
the petition. The source, a former aide of Alhaji Mohammed, said that
it is not unlikely that his former boss encouraged ‘his boys’ to write
the petition to express their grievances over the congress outcome.
“Anybody that has had any close shave with Alhaji Mohammed would know
that he is chameleonic. He looks so nice in the outside but he is
deadly and full of mischief in the inside. Apart from the fact that he
stifles the growth of his aides, he also has an overrated assessment
of himself. With a single call to one of his close boys, especially a
few words with Williams Adeyeye (Alhaji Mohammed’s notorious Personal
Assistant), the job is as good as done!” our source said
Continuing, our source said that it is not conceivable that a petition
would be written in respect of Alhaji Mohammed’s Irepodun local
government without him having a prior knowledge and given a subtle
approval thereof.
Meanwhile, in the copy of the strongly worded petition dated 12th
April, 2014 but received at the APC national secretariat on the 14th
April, 2014, the petitioners, Alhaji Lamidi Sanni Okiki and Alhaji
Shaaba Mohammed Umar, both former A.C.N Caretaker Chairmen from Ilorin
East and Pategi Local Government Areas respectively and die-hard
loyalists of the APC national image-maker, had alleged a grand plan by
Sen. Saraki and his supporters in the state to ‘frustrate large number
of old A.C.N out of the party.” They further said that the party’s
state leader, “using members of the State Executive council, Local
Government Council Chairmen and other political office holders are
foisting unacceptable formula that promote (sic) inequitable
distribution of party positions.”
If this allegation is true, it therefore serves to confirm E-Kwara
earlier exclusive report that Mr. Saraki ordered that ‘juicy’ party
positions be reserved exclusively for his loyalists in the former PDP,
to the exclusion and detriment of original members of the party.
Although the widely travelled report was greeted with pockets of
denials, and this newspaper insulted by both the APC leadership in the
state and their sponsored agents online, the unraveling scenario has
put a lie to the bare-faced denial
The extant petition, which was also co-signed by, Mr. Olu Ajisafe and
Mrs. Tolani, both former ACN Caretaker Secretary and Women Leader
from Ifelodun and Irepodun respectively, further revealed that: “The
events that led to the inconclusiveness of the ward congress in Oro
ward II were clear acts of sabotage and grand conspiracy between the
state interim executive and leadership of nPDP in Oro ward 11 to rig
out legacy members who are in clear majority. The most culpable
amongst those aforementioned forces is State Interim Secretary, Prince
Yemi Afolayan.”
The petitioners further alleged that in Alhaji Mohammed’s ward of Oro
II, there were glaring cases of irregularities and ‘conspiracies’.
“Oro ward 11 having failed to reach consensus on the sharing formula
to be adopted in distributing party positions on the day of ward
congress (April 5,2014) resolved to reschedule its congress for Monday
7th April, 2014. Prior to the rescheduled date for elective congress
in Oro ward 11, there were telephone calls from members of the ward to
the Chairman and Local Government caretaker executive of the defunct
ACN, Mr Dogo and Cyril Agbara respectively, a day preceding the date
of the rescheduled congress that Otunba Bode Oyedepo (aka De way) was
issuing fresh registration slips to unknown people at his residence.
Ordinarily, one would think it was impossible, giving the control
measure adopted by the national leadership to safeguard fraudulent
diversion of registration materials by party leaders. But at the same
time we decided to alert the state congress committee chairman about
the development via text message.
“When the nPDP leaders in Oro ward 11 failed to fraudulently rig out
our bonafide members, Bode D way asked one Tunde Sandiku to bring out
a gun from his car, which he did in the full glare of everyone
present. The pandemonium that ensued led to an indefinite suspension
of the congress by the SCC chairman.”
