ALTHOUGH the widely acclaimed godfather of politics in Kwara State, Dr. Olusola Saraki, had directed members of his political party, Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) to merge with the ruling People’s Democratic Party, (PDP), over 30 per cent of the ACPN members are recalcitrant to the directive.

The Guardian has learnt in Ilorin that many of those who had held elective offices in the ACPN believed that their status would be compromised by moving to the PDP, hence, have decided to stay put in their party.

For now, the state chapter of the PDP has filled all the key party posts required to function with its Chairman being Ishola Balogun-Fulani Secretary, Yemi Afolayan; and Publicity Secretary, Mas’ud Adebimpe.

In the heat of the struggle for the office of the governor of the state, the Second Republic Senator had along side his supporters pulled out of the PDP for the ACPN.

While the PDP had presented the incumbent governor of the state as its standard-bearer in the governorship polls, the ACPN queued behind the Senator daughter of Saraki, Gbemisola but lost.

A source among the ACPN chieftains said: "As you are aware, the government has constituted its cabinet, but how many of us are in the cabinet? If truly we are welcome by them, I mean the PDP people, then some of us should have formed part of the cabinet members."

Besides, it was alleged that some members of the ACPN believed that going back to the PDP would make them jeopardise their quest to see a female candidate emerge as the governor of the 44-year-old state.

A top government official who craved anonymity said the immediate past Governor of the state, Bukola Saraki and his successor, would ordinarily want all the ACPN members back in PDP, citing the imperative of shielding them away from being poached by the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), which is posing a serious opposition to the current PDP administration.

It was claimed that some of the ACPN members are secretly nursing the ambition of joining the ACN in the state.

But when briefed on the development, the older Saraki was quoted to have urged "the aggrieved ACPN party members" to shun such move, promising to assuage their feelings as soon as he came to the ancient town.

Already, some of the local councils in the state have constituted implementation committees with a view to looking into how the knotty issues could be resolved and fully re-integrate the ACPN members into the PDP. Reacting to the development, Publicity Secretary, ACPN, Abdullahi Oganija, said the issue remained "a sensitive one" but believed that Saraki "the leader we are following will resolve it. There is no cause for alarm."

In his reaction Afolayan said he was unaware of any group that would not "follow the directive of Baba Saraki. At the PDP, we are a united body and will therefore welcome back all our members who once left us.