Emir of Ilorin Reconciles Bukola, Gbemi Saraki Ahead of Polls

Blood is thicker than water they say. Ahead of April 11 governorship and state legislative elections, the Emir of Ilorin and Chairman, Kwara State Council of Traditional Rulers, Alhaji Ibrahim Sulu Gambari, at the weekend finally brokered a truce between the former governor of the state and Senator representing Kwara Central, Senator Bukola Saraki, and his sister, Senator Gbemisola Rukayyah Saraki.

Bukola and Gbemisola have been estranged since 2001. They were engaged in supremacy battle over the control of Kwara and their father, late Dr. Olusola Saraki’s political dynasty.

The battle began even when the senior Saraki was still alive and it would seem the late Saraki favoured Gbemisola.The duo of Bukola and Gbemisola are the two most prominent children of the late strongman of Ilorin politics, Saraki.The resolution of the crisis paved the way for the recent defection of Gbemisola from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party in the state into the ruling All Progressives Congress.

Gbemisola had two weeks ago directed all his supporters in the state to vote for APC president-elect, Gen Muhammadu Buhari.

Since then, all her political structure in the PDP had been collapsed into APC in the state so as to ensure the electoral victory of the APC in all the elections in the state.

During the 2011 general elections in the state, Bukola was supporting the incumbent governor of the state, who contested then on PDP platform and later moved into APC, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, and while Gbemisola contested on the platform of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria hurriedly formed by her father in the build-up to that election.

She later moved to PDP after the exit of his brother, Bukola, from the party

Ahmed defeated Gbemisola among others in that election.

That election had further deepened the gulf between Bukola and Gbemisola.

But last Friday, the Emir of Ilorin met the duo for a private meeting at his palace at Oja-Oba, Ilorin.

Sources close to the palace said a closed-door meeting was held with the duo where the issue was said to have been amicably resolved.

The meeting with the Emir lasted more than an hour.

It was learnt that no one was allowed into the meeting as it was exclusively between them and the Emir

Although, they didn’t disclose what they discussed but a palace source said it was in continuation of the reconciliation move that the Emir had started a few weeks ago.   However, when the duo came out, they were received by a mammoth crowd who had gathered at the entrance of the palace.

They both walked out and rode in the same vehicle (Bukola’s vehicle) to their father’s house at Ilofa way, GRA, Ilorin, signalling the end of long debacle.

Ends