PDP Tackles TIC Chairmen over Alleged Conversion of Security Vans  

Hammed Shittu in Ilorin

The Kwara State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP)  has  expressed concern over  the purported  conversion of the security patrol vans by  the Chairmen of Transitional Implementation Committee (TIC) into  their private  use in the state.

The party, however, said that the development has continued to hinder the commitment of the government to tackle insecurity in some local government councils in the state.

Contacted on the issue,  the Chairman of All Local Government Council of Nigeria (ALGON) in the state, Mr. Jide Shonibare,   who denied the allegation said:”None of the TIC chairmen  has converted the security patrol vans into  their private use in Kwara state.”

Shonibare, who is also the TIC Chairman of Ifelodun Local Government Council Area of the state, however,  said: “ Please  don’t mind the PDP,  the TIC Chairmen in Kwara State are not converting  the security patrol vans to  personal use.”

The Governor of the state, Alhaji AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq had  recently  purchased security patrol vans and distributed them to local governments councils in the state so as to ensure the security of lives and property.

However, in  a statement issued in Ilorin  by the state publicity secretary of the PDP, Mr. Olusegun Adewara Olusola, the party called on Alhaji AbdulRazaq to call them to order so as to put an end to the perpetual insecurity situations in the state.

The statement read:  “As a party, we insist that the continued sojourn in the Diaspora, of the supposedly elected leader, Governor Abdulrahaman, coupled with the absence of democratically elected representatives for the local government administration in Kwara state is contributing in no small measures to the current escalating insecurity and gangsterisms in the state.

“The unreasonable conversion of security vehicles recently purchased and distributed with fanfare by the State Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq to personal use by the illegal TIC Chairmen of the local government areas is a gross abuse of power, a sign of impunity, and a spat on the face of our hardworking security agencies.

“If not an act of irresponsibility by the concerned TIC Chairmen, how can any rational-thinking public officers, in the face of the current prevailing insecurity of the state, stoop such low to convert operational vehicles meant to enhance grassroots security into private use?

“This action, indeed, is an attestation that these people were put in each local government area council as stooges to monitor and sit as figurehead which is already cripplling the grassroots economy and making lives more difficult for the people”.

The statement  added: “It is worrisome that in recent times, incidences of cultism-related killings, armed robberies, and other criminal activities have escalated across the state.

“The situation has now penetrated the Ilorin interior, making it even more dangerous for citizens and dwellers of the state capital.

“It is unacceptable for the government to remain silent while criminal elements roam the state, causing chaos, and claiming the lives of many innocent citizens.

“We, therefore, call on Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq to immediately take action against those impostors he put in the local government secretariats  to deploy those security vehicles to where they rightly belong so that our security agents and the local vigilante corps can do their work diligently for the security of the people at the grassroots.”