Saraki losing grip on loyalists after another defeat in Kwara

By Mosunmola Ayobami, Ilorin

It’s not too late to reflect on how the 2023 general elections were won and lost in Kwara State. The elections, just like the last one held in 2019, pitted two dynasties; the Sarakis and AbdulRazaqs against each other.
In 2019, Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq was the arrowhead of the ‘Otoge’ mantra, which halted the dominance of Senator Abubakar Olushola Saraki’s political domination of Kwara politics since the 1980s.
Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki, the first son of the late Senator became the arrowhead of the dynasty, after the death of his father. But, he suffered severe political defeat in 2023.
Though he did not contest himself, save when he briefly showed intention to contest the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential primary, the electoral battering in Kwara diminished his political standing.
Saraki, with his immense political clout in the state, threw his weight behind his political party’s candidates who contested for all the available positions.
Out of the 34 contestants for gubernatorial, House of Assembly, House of Representatives and Senate posts, the party only won the Odo-Ogun constituency in Oyun Local Government, through Otunba Taiwo Afolabi.
Since this latest comprehensive defeat, loyalists of the political leader, according to findings by WesternPost are re-assessing their political trajectories.
For instance, between the presidential election period and now, a lot of Saraki’s foot soldiers have crossed the carpet.
The first person to make the political move was the PDP House of Representatives candidate in the 2023 election, Hon. Wahab Issa, who joined the All Progressives Congress (APC) after losing the election.
Issa, it should be recalled, enjoyed various appointed and elective positions under the Saraki dynasty, including during the lifetime of the late patriarch.
He was at a time in the House of Representatives for Ilorin East/South Federal Constituency.
He was welcomed to the ‘broom party’ by the governor, just a few days before the gubernatorial election.
Also of note is the current House of Representatives member for the same constituency, Yinka Aluko who defeated Issa. He was once a Saraki loyalist before he pitched tent with the AbdulRazaqs.
Aluko, like Issa had also in the past savoured different political appointments under Saraki as governor and political leader in the state.
Another member of the political dynasty who has pitched tent with the APC is Alhaji Bibire Ajape. He was a Senior Special Adviser on Political Matters to the late Sen. Saraki. He also served in the position under the younger Saraki when he was the governor.
There have been lesser-known defections from the PDP to the ruling party, which has further weakened the opposition party in the north-central state.
APC’s growing strength is not limited to defections from other parties as aggrieved members of the party who had issues with the governor before the 2023 elections and left to join other political parties are returning to the fold.
In this class are the party’s former state chairman, Bashir Omolaja Bolarinwa, Akogun Oyedepo, Cook Olododo, Lukman Mustapha and their loyalists, who defected to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) but have now sneaked back and were welcomed by the current chairman, Prince Sunday Fagbemi.
With the spate of defections, the jury is out there as to how many loyalists would remain with the dynasty before the end of this administration, as politicians are known to pitch their tents with the ruling parties to enjoy the dividends of politics.
Efforts made to get the reaction of some loyalists in Saraki’s camp proved abortive as messages sent to them were not responded to.