From Adetutu Folasade-Koyi and Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
An All Progressives Congress (APC) national chairmanship aspirant, Mustapha Saliu, has assured party members that he will not run the ruling party as a cabal if elected during party’s national convention next February.
He also declared he has a cordial relationship with his Kwara State Governor, Abdulrazaq Abdulrahman, adding that his decision not to take legal action when he was disqualified as a governorship aspirant in 2019 general election is a confirmation of his loyalty to APC.
On what to expect from him if he wins the chairmanship seat, he said: “I am bringing justice, fairness to the party. I will ensure popular candidates emerge based on their merit.
“There is need to arrive at a zoning formula to reduce acrimony. I will make APC an open book and not a cabal to itself. This idea of one man show does not go well,” he said.
On his relationship with Abdulrahman and the assurance that he will secure the governor support, he said: “I share a very cordial relationship with the governor in the sense that, if you could cast your mind back, I was also an aspirant for the governorship seat of Kwara. Due to some irregularities in the party, then I was disqualified.
“I did not go to court because I felt we were one and the same. I was looking at the bigger goal if I have gone to court, I think my own case was more serious than that of Zamfara or Rivers. And we would have had another Zamfara or Rivers in Kwara. It was based on our friendship and understanding that made me not to go to court, and we still share the same as I am talking to you.
“If you were there during my turbanning, he was not only there in person, but he escorted me throughout the traditional rites of the turban. And during the recent state congress, in fact, he picked me up in my house, we drove together to the congress.
“He is also one of those canvassing for me because it is an advantage for the state to have a national chairman in me. And if you don’t know, we’ve come a long way together. When I was Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) deputy national chairman, he was my governorship candidate in CPC then. So, we have a lot of history together, positive one for that matter,” he said.
On efforts to reconcile Kwara factions, he said: “From your record, you will notice that the recognised body in Kwara is the one headed by the governor. Of course, we don’t have to have a divided house. It is work-in-progress and I think it will be a litmus for me if I become the chairman to make sure I bring an end to this crisis in the state. All hands need to be on the desk. There are so many party mechanisms on how to resolve internal problems. We must exhaust every possible option because we have the opposition out there, waiting to take any opportunity.
“So, we are not quiet we are strategising and we’re also reconciling our differences. There is no perfect person; there is nobody that is perfect in life. As human beings, we have our little shortcomings. So, as a political party where you have strange fellows coming together, it’s about managing everybody’s opinions or ideas or ideals. The most important thing is to subject ourselves to the rules and norms of the party and adhere to the party manifesto that we preach, we promised the people. So we are not quiet, we are working and that is why you can see a time as we speak now we’re waiting for the date which I told you is work in progress,” he said.