As the crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara state deepens, the Dele Belgore’s faction has welcomed the emergence of a’new APC’, insisting that those who recently defected to the party should not be allowed to hijack the structures at the state level.
The Interim Chairman of APC in Kwara, Bunmi Olusona, in a statement on Tuesday said the move to float nAPC was borne out of the need to rescue the party from imminent “implosion”.
“Members of the Kwara State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress APC wish to congratulate Mohammed Dele Belgore, (SAN) of Kwara State, former Governors Ibrahim Shekarau of Kano, Attahiru Bafarawa of Sokoto, M. Buba Marwa of Adamawa and other leaders across Nigeria for their wisdom in coming up with the idea of launching nAPC soon.
“This patriotic action by founding fathers of APC will without doubt salvage our great party from imminent implosion. We hail these leaders who have resolved not to allow the ship of this Party to capsize. They deserve to be encouraged and appreciated.
“We also want to specially congratulate our very own, Mohammed Dele Belgore, for his resilience and steadfastness on the Kwara rescue project. We are convinced that he still symbolizes the change Kwarans seek,” he said.
Olusona enjoined party members in the state to stay put in the party in spite of the crisis, calling on them not to take part in any registration exercise organized by the Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed or the CAN spokesman, Lai Mohammed.
He stated, “Our appeal goes to our teeming supporters not to get stampeded into leaving the party. The State Interim Exco will soon embark on a tour of our local chapters beginning from February 5th, to educate and sensitize them on how to move the party forward.
“We also warn our members not to participate in any membership registration exercise organized and supervised Gov. Fatai Ahmed led Government or that of their agents like Alh. Lai Mohammed. We rely on the promise of our National Vice Chairman (North Central) to organism a rancor free but all inclusive membership registration exercise in Kwara. We have this implicit confidence in the ability of the leaders of the APC to retrace their steps”
Olusona said further, Nigerians today are asking core but fundamental questions about the Nigerian political system. Are our political parties any more ideological? Who are the true progressives?
“What is progressive about our APC when the party is now peopled by the very enemies of this country? Is the APC truly different from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) or any other political party in Nigeria for that matter? As it is now, the only difference is that they are the same!
“Secondly, how morally correct is it for the new entrants to control both the ‘Government’ and the ‘Party’?
“As principled politicians, until our leaders correct these errors, setting up several committees by whatever appellation will not resolve the crises, It does not matter whether membership of such committees are drawn from another planet other than the one led by Chief John Oyegun of Edo State.
“For the umpteenth time, we reiterate that any arrangement that cedes the structure of Kwara APC in favour of the new entrants will lead to the defeat and humiliation of the party comes 2015. Any assumed peace predicated on injustice will breed tsunami like crises. Should the APC be allowed to implode on the alter of this so called political expedience, hope of millions of Nigerians would suffer.
“Alhaji Lying Mohammed does not represent Kwara APC; he has no electoral value here. Kwara people attach no importance to his press statements, here, he represents himself and a handful of people looking for political appointment from Gov. Fatai Ahmed and his boss.
No one can be hiding somewhere in Lagos, deceiving Nigerians with press statements that does not reflect the actual state of affairs”.
“We make boast to say that we are the largest political family in Kwara of today, by the grace of God, wherever we move to, the pendulum swings in that direction”.
