- Says, Saraki’s Time Were Years of the Locusts
By Kolawole Ojebisi
Governor Abdul Rahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State has berated former Senator President Bukola Saraki over his intervention in an ongoing demolition of structures in the state.
AbdulRazaq, who doubles as the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) said the demolition is out of good faith as it is part of the urban renewal programme of his administration.
The governor made this known in a statement released by his Chief Press Secretary, Rafiu Ajakaye, on Tuesday.
The statement stated that the exercise was long over due as previous successive administrations should have done it before AbdulRazaq’s took over the reins of power
According to the statement, Saraki should have kept mute as there is no moral grounds for his ridiculous intervention.
AbdulRazaq, through the statement, noted that he is cleaning up part of the ugly relic bequeathed to the state by the reckless administration of the former state president.
“The urban renewal programme of the Abdulrazaq administration, which includes restoring or upgrading the original plan of the capital city as much as possible to fit the current realities, was long due,”
” It is what a responsible government should have done many years ago when the first Ilorin master plan expired in early 2000.
“The chaotic and unplanned slum that our great capital city had become until recently is a dirty relic of the Bukola Saraki years when just anyone in the corridors of powers or their cronies could patch on any available land to erect structures with scant regard for any urban planning code. The result is the environmental disaster seen in many parts of Ilorin and environs and its consequences for lives and properties.”
AbdulRazaq stressed that the Saraki’s time in office represented nothing but years of locust and financial malfeasance as public funds were converted for personal use.
The governor added that his administration is working tirelessly to reclaim the state from recklessness of the past and reposition it for collective good of the people.
“The Governor has no history of cornering public properties for himself or his family. What he has done so far within the law is to courageously reclaim for Kwarans what rightly belong to them, but were taken away or dubiously converted for private use during the reigns of Saraki and his cronies.
From the dubious sales of lands at the judges quarters to the Amusement Park, Galadimawa Estate, Kwara Liaison Offices in Kaduna and Lagos, Flower Garden, and Ile Arugbo, which they sold to themselves or mismanaged, the list of the heist is endless and mind-boggling.
“The next time Mr. Saraki is in the state, he should have the courage to see what the government has made of the Flower Garden and the Ile Arugbo land that was stolen from the people. Sprouting right there is a multi-storey building that will house a one-of-its-kind hospital to improve the quality of healthcare delivery for the people and strengthen economic prosperity.
“It is not surprising to see Mr. Saraki foaming at the mouth because the reform has once again recovered for the people a land whose approval was for a car park, per the signature of his own successor Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, but was wrongly converted to another thing entirely. Reckless behaviours such as this were the features of the Saraki years, and we expected nothing less from him.
Governor AbdulRazaq’s statement is in response to Saraki’s intervention on the wave of demolition rocking the state particularly the pulling down of Crystal Palace Shopping Mall belonging to Hon. Moshood Mustapha.
The shopping mall was said to have been demolished on Monday.
Reacting to the development on Tuesday Saraki condemned the AbdulRazaq-led administration for foisting violence on the people and economy of the state to score political points.
Saraki noted that the governor’s efforts reek of pettiness and vendetta.
.“However, it is not my style to take positions on issues from the narrow, parochial perspective. It is my view that one should always look at the big picture, a broad perspective of any issue in reacting to it. It is violence against the people of Kwara State and the economy of the state.
“My decision to speak out against this action that reflects the pettiness of the governor and his government, which is anti-people and against the economic development of the state is irrespective of who is involved,” Saraki alleged.
He also accused the governor of using the demolition exercise to “intimidate, suppress, and silence all Kwarans,” adding: “It is his reaction to the growing unpopularity of everything that he represents within the state.
“Why is Abdulrazaq just realising the fault or whatever he interprets to be wrong with the building of the Crystal Mall structure after 64 months that he has been in office?”
But hours after Saraki’s intervention, the governor issued a statement to knock the former Kwara State governor.
Mustapha, the owner of Crystal Place Shopping Mall, and AbdulRazaq have been at loggerheads over policies of the Kwara State government.
This development has worsened the rift between the governor and Mustapha.
It is believed that what drove the wedge to the seemingly rosy relationship between the duo was the renovation of the N17. 8billion Kwara Hotel
The governor revoked the contract earlier awarded to Mustapha at over N5 billion, citing lack of capacity and awarded it to Craneberge, a company owned by late Herbert Wigwe’s late wife, at the new amount.
It is being said in some quarters that Mustapha’s fame is growing in leaps and bounds among party stalwarts and the governor, who is already serving his second term, may have seen this as a subtle move to position himself as the next Kwara State governor.
Governor Abdulrazaq rode to power on the strength of a campaign pitch couched as Otoge meaning: Enough is Enough. A veiled barb at the Saraki dynasty’s hold on the Kwara politics.
The late Sola Saraki, Bukola Saraki’s father, was the most powerful godfather of Kwara politics in his lifetime.
His anointed candidate used to have his/her way in the state’s politics.
The former Senate President wanted to continue where his late father stopped but the victory by Abdulrazaq in 2019 put paid to that ambition.
