Date: 2018-04-15

As the 2019 elections draw closer, Senate President Bukola Saraki is fighting many political battles both at the centre and in his state, reports Assistant Editor, Dare Odufowokan

For Senate President Bukola Saraki, these are indeed troubled times. From his ongoing trial for corruption by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) for corruption, to his name being mentioned in the Panama papers, coupled with recent allegations that he may be working with the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to undermine the current All Progressives Congress (APC) administration led by his fellow party man, President Muhammadu Buhari, it has been from one troubling news to the other for Saraki.

And on top of all these pressures, the Kwara state born politician is battling with mounting efforts to unseat him as the political leader of his home state amidst growing opposition to his leadership within and outside the ruling APC in the state. Reliable sources within the party in the state told The Nation that Saraki's political family may not find winning the next general election in the state as easy as it was for them in 2015, due to a number of issues now generating tension within the ruling party.

"I think the happenings in Abuja are gradually taking their tolls on the politics of Kwara State. Many of our people who before now lived in awe of the Saraki political dynasty are breaking loose. The opposition to Saraki's hold on the politics of Kwara State is growing by the day. Even within his own party, the ruling APC, he is facing more antagonism from people who feel he is not providing the right leadership required to move the state forward.

"In fairness to the Senate President, he has tried very hard to carry everybody along since the formation of the APC in the state, but due to some age-long differences between his political family and some people, as well as what some people described as his discriminatory patronages, it has been difficult for him to please some sectors within the party and the state. And this is affecting the politics of our state very seriously," a party source told The Nation.

Checks by The Nation revealed that the Senate President is currently working round the clock alongside the leadership of his political family to resolve some pressing issues raised by certain political development back home. One of these is the threat of fictionalisation of the ruling APC following the decision of some prominent party leaders to severe relationship with the state executive committee of the party. "The leader (Saraki) is very worried that some people want to break the APC in Kwara into two," a close aide said on Friday.

Also of current concern to the Senate President is the battle for the APC senatorial ticket in the southern senatorial district of the state. If feelers emanating from the party are anything to go by, three leading chieftains of the party are currently locked in what appears a showdown in their quest to pick the ticket. That Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed is one of the three makes the matter worse. Similarly, fresh indication that Senator Gbemi Saraki may have renewed her interest in the governorship seat of the state is reportedly giving her elder brother sleepless nights.

Cracks in his wall

The Nation gathered that the aggrieved APC group, now operating under the name Caucus for Progressive Change (CPC), made up of most of the leading chieftains of the legacy parties that metamorphosed into the APC in 2014, has been at loggerheads with the Ishola Balogun Fulani-led state leadership long before now. The frosty relationship between the two groups, sources said, had on several occasions led to verbal and physical confrontations among party members in various parts of the state.

"Party leaders, including the Senate President himself, had on several occasions tried to make peace between the two groups all to no avail. The situation today has deteriorated so much that it is being reported that APC has two factions in Kwara State," a party chieftain lamented. But leaders of the aggrieved group say Saraki is part of the problem because the Senate President and his associates have breached all agreements reached when the legacy parties were joined by the then nPDP to form the APC.

According to the state chairman of the CPC, Alhaji Samari Abdullahi, they will never leave the APC for Saraki and his group as they are determined to ensure that internal democracy is allowed to thrive in the state chapter of the ruling party. He said unless the national leadership of the party promptly intervenes the situation may further deteriorate ahead of the 2019 elections.

"We are here so that internal democracy can be engendered in Kwara State chapter of APC. As you are aware, the merger of tendencies within the APC was consummated by what was called the New PDP (nPDP) and legacy parties namely the defunct ACN, ANPP and CPC. It is regrettable that the nPDP family in our marriage has not only behaved as a superior partner but have done so with impunity," Abdullahi said.

But sources close to the Senate President say it is unfair to say he is part of the crisis as he has been doing so much to end the split. "Just this week, he made frantic efforts to reach out to the leaders of the aggrieved group. He made calls and visited some of them over this same issue. I can tell you he spoke with a member of the House of Assembly who is with them and he visited one of their senatorial leaders," an aide of Saraki’s told The Nation.

Kwara South

Ongoing political maneuverings in the Kwara South Senatorial District, which many pundits say are not unconnected with the alleged plan by Governor Ahmed to seek election into the senate after the completion of his two terms of eight years as governor in 2019, is another source of worry for Senator Saraki as we speak. Reliable sources say the Senate President appears not to be favorably disposed to the governor's senatorial quest.

"Yes, the governor is interested in picking the APC ticket to represent Kwara South, but the leader (Saraki) and most people in Kwara APC feel Senator Rafiu Ibrahim should be allowed to seek a second term. This is not going down well with Ahmed and his people and it is a source of worry today. But you can be rest assured that it will be resolved the same way we have resolved several of such developments," our source explained.

But leaders of APC in the district recently pre-empted such settlement as they announced their support for the re-election bid of Senator Ibrahim. Speaking at a press conference in Ajase-Ipo in Irepodun Local Government Council, the senatorial chairman of APC, Alhaji Jimoh Balogun, said their support for Ibrahim was based on his performance since he was elected into the upper house.

The Nation gathered that the move has further aggravated the situation as supporters of the governor are accusing the leadership of the APC in the state of tactically backing the senator against the governor.

Also on the platform of the ruling APC, another possible candidate is Hon. Saheed Popoola, a member of Kwara State House of Assembly. A grassroots politician of note, he was the only local government chairman elected on the platform of the then opposition Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in 2007. His political camp are of the opinion that with his popularity across the district, he stand a good chance of wrestling the APC ticket from both Governor Ahmed and the incumbent Senator.

Gbemi Saraki

Although she is yet to announce her intention to vie for the office in 2019, there are fresh indications that the former gubernatorial candidate under the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) in Kwara State, Senator Gbemisola Saraki may contest the 2019 gubernatorial race in the state. Gbemi is the younger sister to Senate President Saraki and feelers have it that he is not supportive of her rumored ambition and has been doing everything to dissuade her from rocking political boats in the state by seeking the APC guber ticket in 2019.

But sources within the party confirmed to The Nation that the female politician is consulting party leaders just as her political associates impress it upon her to seek the ticket contrary to her brother's admonitions. It is still unclear if she will go all the way and dare Saraki once again by contesting the governorship. "She wants to run but her brother and many party leaders are urging her not to. If she does, the crisis in the party will be made more complex," a state official of the APC told The Nation.

Already, some billboards with Gbemi Saraki's name and picture boldly emblazoned on them now dot some parts of the state. "Meetings are now regularly held at her house in Adewole area of Ilorin and other places," a source claimed.

And to compound her brother's lingering headaches, there are talks that should she fail to get the endorsement of the Senate President this time again, Senator Gbemi Saraki may be lured back to the PDP by her numerous supporters still hibernating in the opposition party.

Feelers suggest that Saraki is currently considering some party chieftains from the northern and central senatorial district for the plum job of the governor in 2019. This perhaps explains why he is not disposed to Gbemi's rumored aspiration. "For now, the Hon. Baago Patigi, a member of the House of Representatives, Bolaji Abdulai, the spokesman of the APC and Rt. Hon. Ahmad Ali, Speaker of the Kwara State House of Assembly are being considered by the leader," a source claimed.