Kwara APC not safe in Saraki’s hands ! –Bolarinwa

In this interview with SUCCESS NWOGU, a former member of the House of Representatives, representing Lagos Mainland Federal Constituency, Mr. Bashiru Bolarinwa, speaks on the crisis in Rivers State and other issues

What is your take on the crisis in Rivers State, especially the allegations that the police are shielding hoodlums, who are committing atrocities against supporters of Governor Rotimi Amaechi?

It is quite unfortunate that this kind of a thing is happening at this time. I am using this opportunity to appeal to President Goodluck Jonathan, to quickly do everything within his power to make sure that the situation is put under control and peace return.

Already, the Boko Haram insurgency is there. Government claimed several times that the problem was going to be resolved, th­at it has put every machinery in place, but it appears from what we see that the government is not in any way on top of the situation, contrary to what it tries to make us believe.

The sporadic bombing and attack allegedly by the police and militants are not good. We should not forget that just some weeks ago, former President Olusegun Obasanjo wrote to President Jonathan. In the letter, this kind of thing was one of the security challenges he mentioned.

What about the bomb attacks on court premises?

President Jonathan should find a way of digging deep into the courts’ burning and unearth the culprits so that there will not be a recurrence. The whole world is watching him especially on the issue of Rivers State, considering what is going on between him and the Governor of Rivers State, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi.

There is this fear that if the situation is not well managed, it might snowballed into something bigger, which may threaten the peace and corporate existence of Nigeria. What is your take on this?

God forbid! If there is any crisis in any part of the country, especially during this period that many interests are springing up, nobody can actually predict the extent to which it will go. Any part of the country that there is a problem, I think he must ensure that solution is provided.

How will you react to claims that those in the APC are strange bed fellows?

Everybody is entitled to his or her opinion. When you do this kind of thing, you expect people to criticise here and there. But those that decided to adopt this method must have their reasons for doing that. By the time the chips are down, every other thing will fall into place.

Do you think the power sharing deal with the five PDP governors, who defected to the All Progressives Congress will work?

I am a member of APC and there are different levels of operation. So also, there are leaders whom I think their views should be respected. But that is not to say that they are infallible. Where we feel that they are not doing what they are supposed to do, there is still nothing wrong with trying to get them to know.

It is a very good thing that they have gone out of their way to woo people into the party. It is said that ‘the more the merrier.’ But at the same time, I think that there must be discussion as well, because first and foremost, one of the things they must consider is that the coming of these people should not be at the expense of the members of APC. We know that if they were comfortable where they were, they would not in any way have left. Well having left and came over to APC, there is nothing wrong with it.

I am using this opportunity to appeal to our leaders that whatever the arrangement they want to make, the original members of APC must be protected. As a matter of fact, if the party did not offer bright chances, they would not have come. That is why they have come to APC and not necessarily that they like the faces of our dear leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, General Muhammadu Buhari and some others. Otherwise, if they felt that they can, on their own, win elections or that there are other parties, why did they not join them? But I must repeat that their coming is good and we will not question the decision of our leaders but that is still not to say that the interest of the original members of the party must not be considered.

There appears to be a disagreement between the Dele Belgore faction and that of Bukola Saraki over the speculated handing over of the APC structure in Kwara State to Saraki. What is the situation?

It is not only Belgore faction in APC that has a disagreement with Bukola Saraki. We should not forget that I was in the Peoples Democratic Party and that I came second in the governorship primaries in Kwara State. Not only that, I still led a large number of members of the original PDP members, those who were the PDP members even before Saraki,  to the party and we constituted our own faction.

Our own group too is not happy with the situation because we have also been members of the party before Bukola Saraki and his followers decided to join the APC. We are also of the opinion that there must be equitable distribution of the party position. Almost every individual in the party is important not to talk of even somebody like me who came second in the PDP primaries and also have some sizeable number of followers in the state.

Only those who are ready to bow before Saraki are the people he is ready to partner with. APC members are not in any way safe if he is given the party structure. What happened in the state recently must be a case study, to tell them the type of person Saraki is regarding the issue of Prof. Shuaib AbdulRaheem-Oba and the controversy that greeted his confirmation for the second term as the Chairman of the Federal Character Commission, before he eventually succeeded in getting the position.

I am using this opportunity to make the appeal to the leaders of our party that they should come to our rescue. Nobody is saying that Saraki should not be admitted to the party; I do not have the power and nobody has the power to resist his entry. Like I said, he is welcome. But we must not be left in his hands because if that is done, that will mean that even the interest of the original party members are being jettisoned. That is the appeal I am making.

There are speculations that General Muhammadu Buhari might be fielded as the presidential candidate of APC and that APC is already shopping for his running mate. Do you see Buhari as the right candidate for the party?

I do not want to rely solely on what I read in the newspapers regarding who APC is going to field as presidential candidate. I am aware that the party has a constitution and that it must hold congresses and convention to elect its presidential candidate. Until that time when events will unfold, I think, that is when we will actually know who is given the mantle.

But do you think that Buhari is the right person to lead Nigeria to the Promised Land?

I do not think that there is anything wrong with General Buhari as an APC member being the President of the country. General Buhari, apart from having been the Head of the State in the past, I think he has had his fair share of experience of the Nigerian terrain and he had had cause to contest on different platforms in the past for the same presidential office. He did that under ANPP and the Congress for Progressive Change. But I still know that there are still contenders in the party. It is the person that eventually wins at the end of the day that will be the flag bearer of the party.