Kwara: How Bolarinwa was edged out
Sentry
It is no longer news that the national leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has allegedly removed the Kwara State chapter chairman of the party, Bashir Bolarinwa, from office and replaced him with his erstwhile deputy, Samari Abdullahi.
What observers of the politics of the state are waiting to find out is how the faction loyal to Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, to which Bolarinwa is loyal, lost out in the game of wits that has been ongoing in the ruling party right from the months leading to the 2019 gubernatorial election that produced Governor AbdulRahaman AbdulRazaq.
Sentry can authoritatively reveal that AbdulRazaq was able to pull the rug off the feet of Bolarinwa and his backers through the instrumentality of APC governors in the north central zone.
It would be recalled that some prominent members of the Lai Mohammed faction had vowed to ensure that the governor is not re-elected in 2023.
According to reliable sources, AbdulRazaq succeeded in convincing his fellow governors to help him rid his administration of intra-party opposition by removing Bolarinwa as chairman.
The governors agreed and the leadership of the north central zone of the party was prevailed upon to recommend Bolarinwa’s removal to the Governor Mala Buni-led national caretaker committee. Although the committee is yet to make any public statement as at the time of filing this report confirming the change of guard in Kwara, a letter of appointment purportedly issued Samari by the committee’s secretary, Senator John Udoedehe, is in possession of the governor’s camp while Bolarinwa and his supporters have been unable to reach out to Buni since the fresh crisis broke.