The Kwara State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said it would sanction the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, over his recent statement against the state governor, Abdulrahman AbdulRazaq.
Crisis is raging in the state chapter of the APC over who controls the party’s structure.
The minister was quoted to have said during the unveiling of a factional APC secretariat in Ilorin, the state capital last weekend, that he sponsored the election campaign of the state governor in 2019.
But speaking with newsmen on the development yesterday in Abuja, Chairman of the APC Caretaker Committee in the state, Abdullahi Samari Abubakar, said the party may apply disciplinary measures in line with its constitution.
“If we feel that what he said publicly amounted to disrespect or caused acrimony within the party, honestly, we are going to make sure the rules of the party are applied against him and any other person.
“There are guidelines like I told you. If the offence is commensurate with suspending him, or any other, definitely the rule of the party is going to apply because nobody is too big to be sanctioned. We want to have sanity in the party,” he said.
However, senators from Kwara have dismissed the claim that the state had entered “one chance” by voting Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq as governor.
Senators Sadiq Umar (Kwara North), Lola Ashiru (Kwara South) and Ibrahim Oloriegbe (Kwara Central), at a joint briefing after Senate plenary on Wednesday in Abuja, threw their weight behind the state governor who, they said, was living up to expectations.
“The governor is the leader of the party in the state. We in the National Assembly recognize the governor as the leader of the party in the state.
“The governor is not a one-chance governor. 2019 was a revolution and God loves Kwara and made Abdulrazaq the governor, who is living up to people’s expectations.
“Other stakeholders might have a different expectation that the governor may not be able to meet. It is natural. That is going to be looked into,” Senator Sadiq Umar said.
On the factional APC office unveiled by Lai Mohammed, the lawmaker acknowledged that there were internal wrangling in the state chapter of the party but assured that the “disagreement will be resolved.”
Similarly, the APC lawmaker representing Offa/Oyun/Ifelodun Federal Constituency of Kwara State at the National Assembly, Hon Tijani Kayode Ismail told newsmen at a press conference on Wednesday in Ilorin that “I as a person did not receive one naira from Alhaji Lai Mohammed, it was Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq that gave us support.”
“There were crises before the party’s primary election and after the emergence of party candidates, I could remember when Alhaji Lai Mohammed made attempt to replace the name of some candidates. He personally told me to step down for Gbenga Power which I resisted and he later sponsored Gbenga to challenge my victory in court. Thank God, I came out victorious.
“Alhaji Lai, as minister for six years, what has he facilitated to Kwara in terms of developmental projects to warrant him calling our performing governor ‘one chance?’ The truth is that he is out to polarize and destroy APC,” he added.
By Saawua Terzungwe, Abdullateef Salau (Abuja) & Mumini Abdulkareem (Ilorin)
