By Yakub Ayinla Babanloma
Year 2019 was undoubtedly a defining moment in Kwara’s political history. The victory of Mr. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the gubernatorial election and his eventual inauguration as the 7th elected governor of the State was greeted by euphoria and enthusiasm amidst hope for a better Kwara State. It is not an exaggeration to say that the whole State was excited and peoples’ expectations hit the sky. AbdulRazaq and his party men promised to effect positive change in all spheres of governance and vowed to turn around the fortunes of the State.
Twenty-seven months after, the story seems to have changed. The excitement has waned and peoples’ hope in the APC administration have been dashed. Governor AbdulRazaq’s goodwill is fast depleting as there is obviously little or nothing to cheer about his administration and governance style. From the Central District to the South and down to the Northern part of the State, the disillusion among Kwarans is obvious and people openly express their aversion for the administration. They are disappointed and unhappy. This is not what they bargained for when they ecstatically shouted ‘O to ge’ and trooped out in their numbers to vote for AbdulRazaq and the APC. It has now dawned on majority of Kwarans that with the choice of AbdulRazaq, they have boarded a ‘one chance vehicle’ as recently publicly stated by an APC leader and Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
It is quite unfortunate and painful that Kwarans’ dream for ‘O to ge’ revolution to usher in the desired good governance, development, progress and prosperity for the State has been shattered by the lackluster performance of Governor AbdulRazaq. Many of the things Kwarans said ‘O to ge’ to are happening right before our eyes today. As someone rightly said, power in the hands of a ruler without capacity and vision is a calamity. This aptly describes the situation of governance in Kwara under the present governor. Discerning observers of events in Kwara will agree with me that Governor AbdulRazaq lacks the required capacity to govern and improve the fortunes of the State. This could be attributed to his limited education, and lack of administrative experience.
Kwarans will recall that for about seven months after his assumption of office, AbdulRazaq ran the affairs of the State without a cabinet, operating a one-man show. When he eventually constituted his cabinet, many of his appointees were inexperienced and were perceived to lack competence, hence their low performance in office. Barely a year into office, AbdulRazaq sacked them, only for him to reappoint majority of them three months after dismissing them. If this is not the trait of a confused and incompetent leader, tell me what it is. Kwarans who expected the governor to introduce fresh and competent hands into his administration were left shocked and disappointed. AbdulRazaq no doubt, oversees the most inexperienced cabinet in the history of the State.
On the last Democracy Day, when governors in other states were busy commissioning critical infrastructural projects to mark their second year anniversary in office, our own governor had no tangible project to showcase. His media team could only come up with some phantom achievements (such as construction of culverts, laying of interlocking stones on some roads and patching of potholes that are daily resurfacing on our roads) to justify his two years in office. This is why the administration continues to move in circle.
For years, they accused the Saraki political group of running a ‘paddypaddy’ and patronage government but what we have today in Kwara under AbdulRahman is a government of the Abdulrazaq family, by the AbdulRazaq family and for the AbdulRazaq family. There are allegations of several contracts that the governor awarded to his relatives and friends at inflated sum. When it comes to party politics, AbdulRasaq’s handling of the APC crisis has further exposed the soft side of his belly in terms of party administration.
In the past few weeks, Kwarans and indeed the general public have been entertained by different revelations and dramas by actors within Kwara APC. Since they assumed power in May 2019, the party has been entangled in crisis and internal wrangling, with no end in sight. Recently, the governor and some notable leaders of the party traded accusations on how 2019 campaign funds were spent. It is surprising that two years after the elections have been won, the governor and his party men are still squabbling and fighting over how campaign funds were spent. This has further shown that the O to Ge campaign is not about the people. It has also proved beyond doubt that the ‘O to ge’ struggle and campaign wasn’t driven by the desire for change, good governance and development of Kwara as its sponsors would want us to believe.
While the governor claimed that hundreds of millions of Naira donated for his campaign in the build-up to the 2019 gubernatorial election were stolen by leaders of the party, the factional chairman of the party, Bashir Bolarinwa accused the governor of mismanaging the one billion naira campaign fund he received from the national secretariat of the party. It is therefore not surprising that people now generally believe that the APC administration has equally mismanaged Kwara’s resources while faking humility, transparency and accountability.
On due process and rule of law, the present government in Kwara State has repeatedly demonstrated it has no regard for due process and rule of law. Within two years, the AbdulRazaq administration has committed various unethical practices and illegalities ranging from suspension of elected chairmen, dissolution of lawfully constituted statutory boards, secret appointment of caretaker committees for the local councils, looting of LG funds, award of contracts without due process, violation of court orders, infringement on fundamental human rights of the citizens, among other infractions. What is more worrisome is that these acts of impunity were aided by the State lawmakers who are supposed to be advocates of justice and due process.
It has become a habit for the AbdulRazaq administration to use state apparatus to suppress, intimidate and hound citizens for criticizing the government. Just of recent, three young men were arrested, unlawfully detained for days, dragged to court for airing their opinions and remanded for good eight days at the Okekura Correctional Center, Ilorin. More shocking was the suspension of Honourable Jimoh Agboola of the PDP for raising concern about the plight of his constituents in Ilorin South state constituency. The governor’s aides are fond of threatening to send to prison citizens who express opposing views or criticise their government. The tyrannical actions of Governor AbdulRazaq and his men easily brings to mind the words of George Bernard Shaw that “Power does not corrupt men; fools, however, if they get into a position of power, corrupt power.”
*Babanloma writes from Kwara State.
