Some members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara state have exonerated Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq from the internecine internal crisis rocking the party.
The executive council members led by APC Deputy Chairman Abdullahi Samari on Thursday held a COVID-19 protocol- compliant parley in Ilorin, the state capital.
The parley was chaired by the Secretary to the State Government Prof Mamman Saba Jibril on behalf of the governor, who reassured the party leadership of his support as well as his commitment to the overall
good of the state.
State chairman of APC Hon Bashir O. Bolarinwa was conspicuously absent at the parley.
Alhaji Samari saif that the rumbling within the party centres around failure of a segment of the party executive to render accounts or relate with other members of the executive as equal stakeholders in the ruling party.
Said he: “I want to say clearly that we in the party do not have any problem with the government or the Governor. And let no one deceive the public that this is about the government against the party or the party against the Governor. No. The problem is between us in the state executive council. It is not with the Governor or his government. We want transparency and accountability within the party. That is all.
“As far as we are concerned, we couldn’t have asked for a better government because the Governor has made a huge difference in every part of the state. In my local government (Baruten), no less than six different projects have been executed. The last one year has been so far so good. What the Governor has done so far within one year has been stellar. I have heard the same stories from other local government areas. So, the Governor has represented us well. He has been relating with us greatly. We were always consulted and called to make inputs in many of the things the government is doing, so we only need to support him.”
Samari said the only link the governor may have with the internal crisis was “him standing by us to call for accountability and transparency and that was after listening to all the sides from within the APC state executive council.”
Samari’s position was corroborated by the State Secretary of the party Mustapha Isowo and other APC executive members present at the meeting.
Samari commended the governor for yet again meeting with the party executives and called for more of such interface.
The parley agreed on the need for government officials and party leaders to interact more on the challenges facing the party in the state, including the modality for individual contributions to fund party activities.
Also yesterday, APC stakeholders from across Kwara Central senatorial district passed a vote of confidence on the governor based on his performance indices and his rising ratings and credibility among the
people.
The stakeholders said this at a meeting of all the state lawmakers and political appointees from the district, with the House of Assembly Leader Magaji Olawoyin describing AbdulRazaq as “our pride who has delivered so well across board and has helped to positively reshape people’s perception of our region.”
In his remark, Chief of Staff to the Governor Aminu Adisa Logun said AbdulRazaq has recorded many firsts in the area of human capital development as well as in rebuilding of collapsed infrastructure in the state.
Special Adviser to the Governor on Strategy Abdullateef Alakawa said the meeting resolved to strengthen their support for and solidarise with AbdulRazaq “who keeps winning more friends on account of his sincerity of purpose, humility, simplicity, and commitment to the overall socioeconomic development of the state.
Alakawa, who read out the resolution of the meeting, said the meeting also resolved to deepen the synergy and understanding between the executive and the legislature as well as bring as many people as possible under the same roof in the senatorial district.
“We also resolve to engage and carry everybody long in this journey so that government can function more smoothly under an atmosphere of friendship and lasting peace,” he added.
