Date: 2017-01-17

The leadership of the Kwara State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday refused to comment on whether punitive action would be taken against the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed over his presence at the Southwest caucus meeting of the party held in Oyo State.

Condemnation from some party supporters had trailed the action of the minister with accusation that he is not properly committed to the zone and state under whose slot he is serving as a minister in the federal cabinet. When National Pilot contacted the state party chairman, Hon Ishola Balogun-Fulani, he said he was in a meeting and promised to get back.

After waiting for hours without response, another attempt by this medium to get the position of the state chapter of the party regarding the issue suffered similar fate.

"I am in a meeting now, I will get back to you when I am through", Balogun-Fulani added. Repeated calls to him and the party spokesperson, Alhaji Sulyman Buhari, before this paper went to the press were also not answered.

But speaking on the matter, a top party official in the state told National Pilot that Mohammed is a federal minister and can be invited to any meeting of the party. The source however said he could not confirm the position of the state chapter of the party on the matter.

Last week, in its efforts to mend the crack in the leadership of the APC in the South-West, stakeholders in the region met but the meeting reportedly met a brick wall as it was allegedly marked with allegations and counter-allegations by the regional leaders of the party.

The meeting, convened last Thursday, in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital and hosted by Governor Abiola Ajimobi was aimed at resolving the impasse that arose as a result of the recently concluded governorship election in Ondo State.

The meeting also sought to broker peace between National leader of the party, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and some of his estranged political godsons, particularly the Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Babatunde Fashola (SAN), Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi and Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun.

The troika and a host of others now being referred to as 'Buhari boys' are believed to have dumped Tinubu and working for President Muhammadu Buhari in the South West ahead of the 2019 general elections.

At the meeting, Governor Amosun, perceived as the arrowhead of President Buhari's group in the South-West, and Aregbesola, renowned as a loyalist of Tinubu, reportedly disagreed on key issues and had hot exchanges.

Former governor of Ogun State, Chief Segun Osoba, while briefing newsmen after the meeting, said: "It's a meeting of elders and stakeholders of South West APC. We are happy that all that were invited came, except the Deputy Speaker (House of Representatives, Suleiman Lasun), who is out of the country.

"We met principally to discuss the issues in all ramifications, affecting the South-West and we have come out with a resolution to show that in the South-West of APC, there is unity of purpose. The leadership is one. We are all together on all issues and we have resolved on all the issues concerning the governance of this country and what should be the role and influence that we should exercise as a group for the interest and progress of this country."