Fatigun: Lack of Good Govt Bane of Kwara’s Underdevelopment

A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party and former Chairman of Ekiti local government council in Kwara state, Hon Akintola Fatigun, in this interview speaks on issues around Kwara politics as well as governance in the state in the last five years. Hammed Shittu brings excerpts:

What is your understanding of what is happening in Kwara politics.

Kwara State today has no bold and respected voice speaking for her at the national level. The type of representative and respected leadership that the state had in late Dr Olusola Saraki, late Major General Tunde Idiagbon, late Major General Abdulkarim Adisa, Brigadier-General Theophilus Bamigboye, Major General Abdullahi Mohammed Adangba, up to the period of Dr Bukola Saraki is now absent and lacking.

The present government is a government of anyhow. It has no respect for anyone and nobody also respects it within and outside Kwara State. That is why the governor does whatever he likes. He has no respect for the constitution, no respect for the rule of law, or governmental process or procedure.

There is nobody that can talk to the governor or call him to order. Nobody can advise him and get him to retrace any wrong step he takes. It’s the first time this will be happening in the state. When Dr. Bukola Saraki was the Governor, his Dad, the late Oloye, and some first-class traditional rulers across the three senatorial zones could call him to order if he took any steps that were considered wrong.

At that time, consultation before any major policy or programme was initiated was usually extensive. The political party or the Governor could decide that a person will be appointed a cabinet member representing a particular local government, but the traditional rulers or opinion and thought leaders in the area will object to his nomination. They could even come up with acceptable alternatives. This process made the government very representative and inclusive.

What we have now is a sad departure. We now have a Governor who presides over the affairs of Kwara state from outside the state and a lot of times from outside the country. You can count on your fingertips the number of times the State Executive Council hold meetings. It is even doubtful if the government ever held security council meetings or meetings with the state’s traditional council. And this is despite the mounting security challenges facing the state. We have a junketing head of government, who you can count the number of days he spends in the state. The governor thinks he is smart when, once in a while, he makes a show-off by boarding commercial planes to hoodwink the people.

Provision for the welfare of the people in the state is zero. An overwhelming majority of our people are hungry. Roads across the state are in poor condition. We have never had it this bad. Governance is at its lowest level. Kwara is now depressed.

Some people believe that the 16 years of PDP in the state’s administration is also a waste. What is your take on this submission?

That is a submission not supported by facts. It is a careless submission based on hatred, envy, jealousy, and selfishness. It is the basis of the propaganda that was concocted in 2018 – 2019 during the O to Ge era. As a journalist, are you saying the establishment of KWASU, Aviation College, Ganmo power station, community health insurance scheme started by PDP, Medical Diagnostics Centre, Shonga farm, resuscitation of Ogbondoroko cashew industry, Mandate housing estates, establishment of KWIRS, building of the new secretariat, construction of Geri Allimi Underpass, construction of the first and only, standing flyover in the state, the construction of Kosu-bosu – Chikanda – Ilesha – Baruba Road, are all waste? Road construction and development were done across the state in those years. Ilorin was cited as one of the cleanest state capitals in the country during the tenure of Dr. Bukola Saraki.

We are talking about a lackluster concentration of construction work on just a street in the entire state – that is Ahmadu Bello Way as we are now experiencing.

What we have now is a one-street development. The clean state capital has given way to a very dirty, unkempt, and abandoned town. The good people of Kwara submitted to heavy, ill-motivated propaganda and blackmail of “Se Awon Nikan Ni” in 2019 and we can all see where it has led us.

We are now saddled with a completely inept government. It is now a government of “Ko Si Enikan Ti O Le Ba Mi Wi”. One of the leaders of the ruling party, APC, in the state told me that their government is run like a Kiosk run by an illiterate trader, who only operates when the owner is around and the shop is closed, even when the owner goes to the bathroom. Even with my investigations on the art of governance in the state, the state Deputy Governor cannot preside over any meeting or take any decision. Once the lord of the Government House is not around, everything shuts down till he shows up again. You can see for yourself, that the Government House has been under lock and key for the last five years, which tells you that there is no government. All we have is an absentee Emperor.

All these things you are saying seem to be pointing to the fact that you want us to believe that Kwara State is missing Dr. Bukola Saraki’s leadership. Is that so?

Is it not obvious? Let me tell you, Saraki cannot be governor, Senator, Reps member, local government chairman or councillor again. So, his contributions to the development of the state cannot be for any personal gain. Also, since he left public office over five years ago, have you noticed any drop in his standard of living? No.

Up till now, he travels across the country in hired private jets. That shows that he is a man who does not need a public office to emphasise his importance and worth. We in Kwara State need his influence, connections, network, experience, intelligence, and organizational ability to draw national benefits to our state. Let us start with our representatives in the National Assembly. When PDP and Saraki were in control of the politics of Kwara State, our senators and representatives used to head choice committees in the National Assembly. Zakari Mohammed was chairman House of Reps committee on Universal Basic Education, the former speaker of the state assembly, Hon Ali Ahmad was chairman of the Committee on Justice, Hon. Ahman Patigi was chairman of Water Resources, for many years, late Funke Adedoyin was deputy chairman of Committee on the Army. Senator Shaba Lafiagi was chairman, Senate Committee on National Intelligence, and the late Senator Rafiu Ibrahim was chairman of Committee on Banking and other financial institutions. These are committees through which numerous projects and developments were attracted to the state.

Today, what do we have? We have second-rated committees and this is happening because we don’t have a top voice, no one to make a case for Kwara State. We are just like a sheep without a shepherd. In the federal cabinet, Kwara State nominees used to have choice ministries. – Defence, Housing, Health and Communication. Hon Bio Ibrahim was Transport minister when the transport ministry was massive and a special reserve of top politicians. The ministry then supervised the Nigerian Port Authority, NIMASA, Nigerian Inland Water Way, Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), and Nigerian Shippers Council are all under him.

Now, under Abdulrahman Abdulrazak, the representative from Kwara State who is nominated under politics is the Minister of Youth who is not even in charge of NYSC. The AGF that we have got his appointment based on a personal relationship with the president. This happened because the state has no leadership that is selfless and respected at the national level. All our senators and Rep members during PDP have choice committees because we have a leader in Bukola Saraki who is selfless, respected, influential, and can make things happen nationally and internationally.

But what did those in Kwara do to pay back Saraki?

As a result of envy, we harassed him with heavy blackmail and character assassination. All kinds of lies were circulated about his person. They claimed falsely that he was following federal allocation accruing to Kwara State with a private jet as if the money was paid in cash in Abuja to the state commissioner for finance. They lied that he was collecting N2 billion from the state allocation every month to fund his lifestyle. Since he left public office over five years ago and the PDP is no longer in control of the Kwara State government, is he still collecting the N2 billion every month? Has his lifestyle changed from when he was in government? No. He is still spending hundreds of millions of naira to assist and support Kwarans.

His NGO, ABS Foundation, is sponsoring various initiatives in the area of health, agriculture, entrepreneurship, and sports development and he still reaches out during Christian and Muslim festivals to Kwarans. He gives palliative support to those affected by natural disasters and mind you Is Governor Abdulrasaq still paying him the N2 billion from the state allocation to fund his lifestyle and projects?

Kwara needs a leader like Dr Saraki who is selfless, respected, wise, influential, and kindhearted to give us the federal muscle, the big cover, and wise guidance to survive in Nigeria today.

What is Dr. Saraki doing to get his party, the PDP, back to power in Kwara State?

It’s not about what Saraki is doing to get Kwara State back. It’s about what we, the people, are doing to get our state back on track, out of the woods. It’s Kwarans that need to come together under Saraki’s leadership to navigate a way out. He’s a natural leader. You can see the way Nigeria and the international community rallied around him when his beloved mother died. From the president of our dear country to leaders from other African countries, and the leadership of the ruling party, they all came to pay condolences to him and participated in the funeral obsequies in honour of the late mother. Top government functionaries came to show him support. That demonstrates to us that he is well respected across political, ethnic, and religious divides.

Kwara should not miss the coming opportunity. As I said before, Saraki is not coming to be Governor, Senator, Rep member, Local council chairman, or councilor. He’s far above all that. But we need his guidance, network, and experience to save Kwara from this disaster.  For me, Akintoba Fatigun, Saraki is my leader and I challenge those who are opposed to this statement to tell me who their leader is. I am waiting for their response. I know the government in Kwara State will viciously attack me. They can only attack me. They cannot successfully dispute or fault any of the facts I have stated above.

What is the PDP doing to win Kwara State back?

Peoples Democratic Party is doing its bit by exposing how the present leadership in the state is misusing the state resources.

For five years and two months, the local government areas in the state are administered by those hand-picked by the governor, those who are answerable only to him and not to the people. This was done for 60 good months. During this period, all the responsibilities of the local government council were abandoned, and primary health care and primary education were suffering, operating at zero level.

The state government was now in a hurry to conduct an election when it became obvious that the Supreme Court would rule in favor of local government autonomy. He is doing so to avoid being denied access to revenue allocation meant for the 16 LGAs in Kwara State. And in the hurry to have an elected LGAs in place, he is committing various illegalities and that is what PDP has gone to court to challenge. Our party is going through a reorganization. Those who are creating problems, demarketing, and sabotaging the party are finding their way out, and that has created opportunities for the youth to join the party in moving it forward. Every day, our members hold meetings at every level and mobilising new supporters into its rank.

How prepared is your party for the forthcoming Local Government poll?

Our party is prepared. We have submitted names for all the chairmen and councilorship candidates to the Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission (KWASIEC). We have paid all the necessary fees and taxes.

We are going to win the election because this government is very unpopular, but KWASIEC must do the right thing. It must follow due process and its own rules. We will not accept a deliberate infraction of the law that can lead to nullification of the election and that was why we went to court to stop the deliberate violation of the law from happening.

The state government wants to conduct LGA poll for selfish reasons. If they announced the conduct of the LGA poll in June 2024, then going by the provision of the law his government enacted, he can only conduct the polls in June 2025. He had all the while (five years) ignored the calls on him to conduct the LGA polls. Why is he in a hurry now? Why will he enact a law that he does not intend to comply with? He must respect the position of the law.