Abdulrazaq accuses Saraki of plotting to be Kwara governor again through the back door
Dele Moses, Ilorin
Kwara state governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, has in a veiled reference, insinuated that former two-term governor of the state, Bukola Saraki, still wanted to be governor through the back door
He made the insinuation during the inauguration of the campaign council of the state All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ilorin.
Saraki, a former Senate President, is the leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state and has been very much involved in the campaigns of the party in the state for the forthcoming general election.
The party used to be the ruling one in the state before it was defeated by the APC during the last general election
Abdulrazaq, while speaking at the inauguration of the APC campaign council made veiled references to the campaign of the opposition PDP as regarding the manner he alleged Saraki was involved in the campaign.
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He stated: “The two of them are campaigning; we don’t even know who wants to be governor between them. We heard that they have entered into an agreement that one will just be a figure head governor while other will be pulling the string.”
The governor who said that his administration in the last four years has been rescuing the state from the effect of the alleged bad governance of the 16 years of the Saraki’s camp in the state expressed hope that the achievements of his administration will ease the tasks of the APC campaign council across the 193 political wards in the state.
“As a government, we have made your job easy because of what we have done in every part of the state. We met dilapidated structures across the state in primary health and education, poor infrastructure, and lack of water supply. We have gone very far to overcome that. We have done exceedingly well across sectors.
“We have stabilised things, and the next few years will serve to consolidate on our achievements and position our state for greatness and further empower our people positively, especially young people and women.
“The previous governments couldn’t even pay salaries, pensions, and gratuities in spite of huge funds that they received. Within the last two months, we have paid about N6bn to clear salary arrears, pensions, and gratuities for 2009, 2010, and now 2011.
“We will continue to upscale on what we have done in the areas of health, education, agriculture, road infrastructure, and social safety net”, he stated.
AbdulRazaq congratulated all members of the council for their nomination by the party and charged them to consolidate on the success recorded in 2019.
“You are charged to deliver our party just as you did in 2019. The immediate challenge is to deliver Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the next president of Nigeria. Then, you must deliver all our senators and House of Representatives members on the 25th of February, 2023. You should also deliver all our candidates in the March 12 governorship and House of Assembly elections,” AbdulRazaq said.
AbdulRazaq also encouraged the youths to learn from the experiences and guidance of elders to guarantee the success of the party.
State chairman of APC, Prince Sunday Fagbemi, urged members of the council to work assiduously for the victory of the party at all levels in a peaceful and orderly manner.
“We do not want violence in this election. Go about your campaign peacefully. We do not believe in violence because our party is not known for that. We commend the police for their prompt action, which led to the arrest of a member of the opposition who nearly disrupted our campaign recently in Ilorin,” he said.
Speakers at the inauguration included Senators Sadiq Umar and Lola Ashiru; Kwara Central Senatorial district candidate and Turaki of Ilorin Mallam Saliu Mustapha; House of Representatives candidates Raheem Adewuyi, Yinka Aluko, Mukhtar Sagaya, Dr Ahmed Adamu Saba; and Speaker Kwara State House of Assembly Engr Yakubu Danladi Salihu; and Director General of the Campaign Council Alhaji Yahya Seriki.
They urged members of the party to see their appointments as call to duty and those not on the list to see themselves as part of the project.
They said the victory of APC will the continuation of more good things to come to Kwara State, adding that it is a project that all must work together to win.
All members of the party must see themselves as campaign managers and deliver their respective polling units and wards, the chieftains said.
They said the administration of AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has been good for everybody and every community, thereby making things easier for the party in the state.
The chieftains said what the Governor has done is evident across various rural communities, adding that the statistics are improving in health and education and the likes and patriots will not allow Kwara state to go back to retrogressive old days.
