Kwara APC Chairman Challenges Saraki to Join Party in State

The Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State, Prince Sunday Fagbemi, has challenged former Senate President Dr. Bukola Saraki to formally join the party in the state rather than allegedly maintaining informal ties with the APC at the national level.

Fagbemi made the remarks during an interview on Sunday, reacting to comments by the Director-General of the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), Prof. Abubakar Sulyman, who recently claimed on a radio programme in Ilorin that Saraki was associating with the APC in Abuja. The statement has generated widespread public discussion in the state.

The Kwara APC chairman dismissed the development as insignificant, describing it as a non-issue that does not warrant serious media attention. He accused Saraki of lacking consistency and personal loyalty, alleging that these traits had contributed to the defection of some of his former supporters to the APC and the African Democratic Congress (ADC).

According to Fagbemi, Saraki should demonstrate political courage by openly joining the APC in Kwara State under the leadership of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, rather than engaging in what he described as indirect political engagement outside the state.

He further argued that Saraki no longer poses a political challenge in Kwara, noting that the APC has defeated the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Saraki’s platform, in two consecutive elections in the state.

Fagbemi added that while some of Saraki’s former loyalists had long aligned with the APC, others had moved to alternative parties, insisting that the former Senate President’s influence in the state has significantly waned.

He also recalled Saraki’s emergence as Senate President in the past, describing it as a politically motivated survival effort, and questioned his record of loyalty within party politics.