Date: 2014-12-16

The last may not have been heard of the fresh crisis that is rocking the Kwara State chapter of the PDP following the last gubernatorial primary in the state as a religious angle has been introduced into the scenario, National Pilot can report.

Since the emergence of senator Simon Ajibola as the party's governorship’s candidate for the 2015 elections in the state, his electoral victory has come under protests and disapproval from some aggrieved members of party allegedly sponsored by Hajia Muinat Shagaya to favour her preferred choice, Dele Belgore.

According to findings by this medium, Shagaya, the former Deputy Governor of the state, Chief Joel Ogundeji, the state’s party Chair,  Akogun Iyiola Oyedepo, Dele Belgore, among others are flying the religious kite in high quarters in Abuja against the candidature of Ajibola.

A highly placed source within the party, who confirmed the incident said, there is campaign of calumny against Ajibola with the insinuation that he cannot win election for the PDP in the state especially with regards to his Christian faith.

 Though their campaign did not include handling over the baton to Belgore who came second during the rescheduled governorship primary election in state, their ultimate aim is to replace his runner-up, the source added.

Since Ajibola, who is the Chairman of the PDP’s guber aspirants’ forum emerged, some of the members forum including Jani Ibrahim and Sunday Babalola had congratulated him and reaffirmed their support for his choice.

It would be recalled that prior to the rescheduled guber primary election all the 12 aspirants, excluding Belgore had addressed a press conference to support any of the candidate that emerges at the primary.

To this end, National Pilot further gathered that one of the members of the PDP guber aspirants forum who also lost out on Sunday, John Dara, convened a meeting  in Ilorin to reiterate support their for Ajibola.

'The meeting was organised at the instance of John Dara to reaffirm support for Ajibola and this was the position of many of the aspirants, the source further added.

When contacted on the issue yesterday, the Chairman of the party in the state, Iyiola Oyedepo, simply told our reporter that 'I don't know about that, I don't know about that' and hanged his phone.

Also, a source close to Senator Gbemi Saraki confided in our reporter that the former state’s ACPN guber aspirant in the 2011 election is fully backing Ajibola’s candidature.

Gbemi is still in town since the conclusion of that election and she is fully supporting Ajibola, one of his aides told our reporter yesterday.

Also, several calls and text messages put across to Belgore’s Media Aide, Rafiu Ajakaye, were neither answered nor replied.

Commenting on the issue, a chieftain of the party and member of the Freedom group, Tajudeen Kareem, said people who underrated Ajibola  did so at their own peril, adding that nobody ever thought he would win the election.