In this interview with MAYOWA SAMUEL, Special Assistant to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq on political communication, Bashir Adigun, expressed the governor’s preparedness to accept any aggrieved politician who is ready to follow laid down dictates. Excerpts:
The leadership tussle in Kwara APC has divided the party into two factions. This has also led to the conduct of two parallel congresses which has produced two factional chairmen. What are stakeholders of the party doing to settle this?
Well, there is no wrangling, what is happening is expected in a very big party like the APC and every individual and group will be seeking relevance and I’m sure that the governor, being an exemplary leader that opens his doors to everyone, is handling the situation and I’m sure that in no time, all disagreements will be resolved.
What is actually the rift between the governor and Lai Mohammed?
I don’t know whether we should call that rift, it’s a disagreement and like I told you, it will be resolved. In politics, everybody wants something, each party on the table cannot have everything, you take some, you lose some. It’s not a situation whereby you’ll come to a table and have everything; you’ll have some, other people will also have, and that’s politics. What is happening is a normal thing in politics and I’m sure it will be resolved.
What will happen if the reconciliation committee set up by the national leadership to address the differences in the state decides that the Mohammed faction should be recognised as the authentic one?
That is left for the national body to handle, when we get to the bridge, we shall cross it, but for now, let’s keep our fingers crossed.
What actually led to the breakaway of the A.A faction?
I think that question should be directed to people who feel that there was a breakaway but for us, I think the party is one.
The deputy chairman of the other faction, Sunday Oyebiyi, told us that those who broke away were after “what they will eat from the governor. What’s your reaction to that?
Well, if he said they broke away because of what they are going to eat, you can quote him, not me. But for us, we are here to serve the people, we are here to change Kwara for the better and that is the principle behind ‘O to ge’, that we cannot continue to do things like the people that we voted out have been doing, we should do things in a different way. Education had collapsed; civil servants were owed for several months which we are handling. We’ve been able to clear the backlog of salaries owed and today, civil servants are being paid promptly and pensioners are getting their pensions. So, that is the change the people of Kwara State voted for and the governor, being an exemplary leader, an emerging leader in the whole of Nigeria and Africa, the people voted for him.
Finally, what is the condition for reconciliation with the APC Loyal faction?
As far as we are concerned, the door of the governor is open, he is the leader of the party and he is ready to welcome anybody who is ready to abide by the rules of the game.
