PDP Crisis: Ex-Governor Ahmed, Bolaji Abdullahi lead gladiators as they withdraw loyalty to Saraki, hint on next moves

All may not be well with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara State, as the crack within the rank and file of the party, appears to be widening by the day. The crack which had hitherto been rumoured in hushed tones, has become a full-fledged crisis that may dog the Kwara PDP till the next general election.

Reliable sources close to the party leadership who spoke on condition of anonymity, believe that the crack which predates the 2023 general election, might just be the beginning of the end for the PDP in Kwara State. Unlike similar disagreements in the past, party sources, believe that the current wave of discontent within the party, might have reached a point of no return, as the party leaders who were hitherto the fiercest loyalist of Sen. Bukola Saraki, may have already reached a decision to leave the party and take their future in their hands.

Since the last election, most of the aggrieved PDP leaders, have chosen not to identify with Saraki either in public or private, a gesture which some people have described as clear evidence of their grievances with the party leadership.

The PDP leaders, according to sources, who cut across the three Senatorial districts, are convinced that the leader of the Party, Sen. Bukola Saraki, has remained unrepentantly insincere before, during and after the 2023 elections. The party leaders, believe that this insincerity, is in part the reason for the continued failure of the Party, to regain power in the State. “This system is set up to fail, it has practically become a one-man show, except something is done urgently, the party will continue to struggle in the state”. One of the aggrieved party leaders from Kwara North, was quoted as saying.

While the leaders may be united in their discontent with Saraki, what is interesting about this wave of discontent is that their reasons are personal and specific to each person, based on their individual experiences with Sen. Saraki, a situation that reminds one of the popular English saying, “to each man, his own”.

One of the Party leaders, that has been rumoured to be aggrieved is former Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed. According to party sources, Ahmed is convinced that Saraki humiliated him in 2019, despite his uncommon loyalty to him. After agreeing to give him the Senate ticket, he turned round to withdraw it from him and award it to Sen. Rafiu Ibrahim. Ahmed believes that as a Governor who was completing his 2-term in office, and who did not fight Saraki even for one day, he should have been given the right of first refusal. “’Till this moment, Maigida still holds the 2019 humiliation against Saraki, and he has never hidden this discontent from even Saraki himself” a source close to Sen. Saraki added.

For the leaders from Kwara North, Prof. Gana Yisa, Hon. Isa Bio Ibrahim, Hon. Zakari Mohammed, Hon. Ahman Pategi and a host of others, they believe that Saraki deceived them in 2023, after the ticket was zoned to Kwara North. Their discontent is that Saraki, allowed them to spend so much money during the primaries and yet could not find any of them suitable, but would rather favour an outsider who had barely been in the party for one month for the Governorship ticket. The party leaders were quoted as saying that “despite our many years of devoted service to the Saraki dynasty, there was none of us he considered eminently qualified”. The Kwara North leaders, according to sources, are currently discussing and may soon disclose their next move.

On his own part, Former Minister of Youth and Sport development, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, believes that Saraki watched with his arms akimbo, while members of the Party from Kwara Central, were being patronised with huge sums of money from the opposition candidate, to work against the party, and sabotage his election. Sources close to Abdullahi, said the former Minister’s discontent is not just that members of the party, openly worked against him and the party, a move that constituted an anti-party activity. His major discontent is that Saraki failed to call them to order, despite his many appeal to him to intervene. It has also been widely rumoured that Saraki himself may have secretly supported Abdullahi’s main opponent, Mall. Saliu Mustapha. “Oga didn’t want to give Bolaji the ticket. In fact, they almost took it from him. The plan was for Baraje to get ticket and give it back to Oga after the presidential ptimaries. But because of what happened in 2019 when Oga betrayed BJ in the last minute, they could not push it. So, they waited for him, “ a source close to Saraki explained.

The former deputy Governorship candidate, Hon. Gbenga Makanjuola, is alleged to be dissatisfied with how Saraki has since dumped him, since the Economic and financial crimes ordeal. Sources close to Makanjuola said that we all know, Hon. Gbenga Makanjuola is an upright man, who only took the fall for his Oga, as the highest show of loyalty, such a man should never be abandoned by Saraki. Another source close to Makanjuola hinted that since the 2023 election, Hon. Makanjuola has instead choosen a quiet life, while trying to figure his next move, which may include outrightly leaving the party.

For Hon. Abubakar Amuda-Kannike, a former House of Representatives member, it is not immediately clear what his discontents are, but party sources hinted that he is also dissatisfied and may soon announce his defection from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

For these lieutenants of Saraki, who were once his fiercest loyalist, who many times have put their lives, reputation and even job on the line for Saraki in the past, it would seem that the ship has finally sailed. It cannot be immediately confirmed if these PDP leaders will take a collective decision on their next move, but they have been talking to each other and comparing notes. While no one is immediately sure, what their next move would be, one thing is certain, all is not well with Kwara PDP.