Leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara State have faulted claims by the Director-General of the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), Prof. Abubakar Suleiman, that former Senate President Bukola Saraki is secretly working for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Prof. Suleiman made the allegation during a Yoruba-language radio programme in Ilorin on Sunday, asserting that Saraki was collaborating with the APC at the federal level. A video clip of the broadcast later went viral on social media, triggering sharp reactions within political circles across the state.

During the programme, Prof. Suleiman openly identified himself as a committed APC member and claimed that Saraki, who facilitated his initial appointment as NILDS director-general, was also working for the ruling party in Abuja.

“I am a committed member of APC. The former Senate President who facilitated my appointment is also working for APC in Abuja. We know ourselves very well. He is doing APC’s work,” he said, swearing by Allah.

The claim surfaced only days after Saraki publicly reaffirmed his loyalty to the PDP at a youth summit in Ilorin organised to mark his 63rd birthday, where he restated his commitment to rebuilding the party and strengthening opposition politics.

Daily Trust reports that Prof. Suleiman was a key ally of Saraki during the PDP era in Kwara and served as the party’s campaign director during the 2019 governorship election. Following the PDP’s defeat by Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq and Saraki’s loss of his Senate seat and position as Senate president, Suleiman was appointed director-general of NILDS.

He was later reappointed in 2023 under Senate President Ahmed Lawan. After assuming the position, Prof. Suleiman announced his withdrawal from partisan politics but has in recent months openly declared his APC membership and his intention to contest the Kwara governorship in 2027.

However, PDP leaders in the state have dismissed his comments as misleading and politically motivated.

Speaking during a live radio programme on Monday, the chairman of the PDP in Kwara Central Senatorial District, Alhaji Isiaka Owolabi, and the party’s Director of Planning and Strategy, Mallam Ibrahim Olayinka Otukoko, described Saraki as a committed and recognised leader of the PDP at both the state and national levels.

Otukoko said the attempt to link Saraki with the APC was driven by personal political ambitions rather than facts, insisting that the former Senate president remained firmly rooted in the opposition party. “Dr Bukola Saraki is today a committed leader of the PDP, fully aligned with the ideals, principles and vision of the party,” he said.

He explained that Saraki’s role in facilitating Prof. Suleiman’s appointment at NILDS was done in good faith at a time when Suleiman was still a PDP member and had no bearing on his current political choices. “If today Prof. Suleiman chooses to change political direction for personal reasons, that is his constitutional right. But it has absolutely nothing to do with Dr Saraki. People should stop dragging his name into their personal political calculations,” Otukoko added.

The PDP chieftain also dismissed suggestions that Saraki’s interactions with politicians outside the PDP, including the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, amounted to anti-party activity.

“Engagements across party lines are about governance, national interest and peace-building, not defection or political alignment,” he said.

Alhaji Owolabi, on his part, described Saraki as a bridge-builder and national unifier, arguing that political maturity should not be mistaken for disloyalty.

“Just because Saraki is in the PDP, does it mean he should not relate with politicians from other parties?” he asked.

Saraki has, in recent months, been at the forefront of reconciliation efforts within the PDP, which has been engulfed in a protracted leadership crisis at the national level. He has advocated the establishment of a caretaker committee to oversee an inclusive national convention aimed at producing new party leadership.

Although his recommendations were reportedly ignored ahead of the party’s controversial convention in Ibadan in November, developments following the Independent National Electoral Commission’s refusal to recognise the National Working Committee that emerged from the exercise have renewed internal calls for a return to Saraki’s proposed framework. (Daily Trust)