By Steve Oni, Ilorin


The Integrity Group, a faction of the Kwara state chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, led by the Minister of  Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed Sunday  has asked the national leadership of the party to ensure that they give their faction custody of the fresh registration materials that would be sent to the state for the new registration and revalidation exercise in the interest of justice and fair play, contending that  "justice demands that a complainant in a dispute should not be deprived of their complaints."

Briefing journalists in Ilorin, the state capital, over the weekend, spokesman of the group, Comrade Abdul Rahoof Bello, said: "Much as we appreciate the disposition of the national headquarters of our party to our plights in Kwara state, we hereby appeal to their conscience that justice must not only be done, but must be seen to have been done, otherwise, the corporate existence of our party in the state might be in jeopardy.

"Where there is injustice, there will be no progress, crisis will continue and we will continue the infighting, and only God knows how it will end. We didn't get justice from the North Central Zone of the party, hence our appeal to the party's apex body. So, we earnestly demand justice for peace to reign in Kwara APC.

"We also state categorically that we are fully prepared to go for Direct Congresses immediately after the new registration/revalidation exercise. We are not, and we shall not be part of the unilateral consensus arrangement being proposed by the Governor's group because the beauty of democracy is in allowing minority to have their say, even when majority have their way. The only civilised way to prove our numerical values is through Congress, not by any proxy."

The group said it is not true that the party leadership in the state abandoned the governorship candidate at the injury time of the election as claimed by Governor AbdulRahman AbdlRazaq, adding that "there's no truth in the contest for the leadership of APC between the Governor and the Minister during and after the elections because the position of the party that the Governor is the Leader is never in dispute and it is so recognised by the rank and file of our party in this state."

The spokesman said they were embarrassed, worried and disappointed that the Governor could use an occasion of a book launch to wash the party's dirty linen in the open, "referencing and talking about some pre-election matters that took place two years before his election thereby portraying our party as an organisation with no credible leadership or any internal mechanism where such matters can be referred."

He alluded to some peace efforts made by the group to resolve the crisis when it rared its ugly head in August 2019, including the setting up of a seven-man committee comprising eminent personalities within the party, adding that it was the Governor that did not allow the peace efforts to work and yield the desired results.

The group reaffirmed its confidence in and support for both Ministers Lai Mohammed and Gbemisola Saraki "for being good ambassadors of the state and for their contributions to upholding the honour and glory of the APC in the state under the leadership of Hon. Bashir Omolaja Bolarinwa (BOB), who is the Caretaker  Chairman by right and by the law