Date: 2021-05-14

The Emir of Ilorin, Dr. Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, has reunited the Kwara state Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq and Mallam Saliu Mustapha, both chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Mr Mustapha contested the APC primaries ahead of the gubernatorial election in 2019 but was erroneously disqualified by the party, which later apologised in a written correspondence by the erstwhile National Chairman of the party, Comrade Adams Oshiomole.

Rather than seek redress in court, Mr Mustapha collapsed his campaign structure in support of Mr AbdulRazaq, who later emerged victorious at the poll.

But the cracks in the Kwara APC over the leadership of the party in the state led to a love-lost relationship between them.

But in a twist at the Emir's palace on Thursday, Sulu-Gambari urged the duo, who he described as illustrious sons of Ilorin in whom he is well pleased, to close ranks for the development of the state.

"Politics should be a means to an end, and the end should be the development of the people."

"It is the responsibility of the traditional institutions to ensure that politics does not stand in the way of development. And that's what we have achieved today."

To underscore his reconciliatory moves, the emirate leader asked Abdulrazak and Mustapha to sandwich him on the both sides of his seat.

The move was met with a thunderous applause from spectators who had gathered for the Bareke, a royal procession embarked upon by the Emir from the Eid praying grounds to the palace.

Mustapha is a contestant for the office of the National Chairman of the APC in the party's forthcoming National Convention. His reconciliation with the Governor might be a big boost to his ambition.