Kwara Governor Replies Saraki: We’re Restoring Sanity to Our State

Hammed Shittu in Ilorin

Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq of Kwara state has said that the ongoing Urban Renewal programme in the state is meant to restore the original plan of Ilorin City.

A statement issued in Ilorin on Tuesday by Governor Abdulrazaq and signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Rafiu Ajakaye, said the development also became imperative in order to restore the current realities since it was long overdue.

Governor Abdulrazaq’s reaction was borne out of the statement issued by the former governor of the state and former Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, over the demolition of the property of former member of House of Representatives, Hon. Mashood Mustapha in Ilorin.

Saraki in his statement had stated: “The State Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq is using this demolition exercise to intimidate, suppress, and silence all Kwarans.

“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?

“The Kwara State Governor is ordering this demolition as his response in the aftermath of the recently conducted local government polls where people in all the constituencies massively voted and rose against his party and its candidates, even when he malevolently, fraudulently, and maliciously got contrary results to be declared by his hand-picked electoral officials.

“This is the beginning of a war against Kwara State for rejecting a governor who has failed to deliver good governance on all fronts. We should recall that he has ordered the arrest of some opposition politicians on frame-up charges.

“In my view, Abdulrazaq believes unveiling a regime of violence and destruction against the people, particularly, the elite and their property will impose a culture of silence on the state.

 “Now, the news circulating across Ilorin is that the next target of Abdulrazaq’s demolition squad is the place where the remains of my late father, Oloye (Dr.) Abubakar Olusola Saraki, of blessed memory, is interred.

“Even, this evil plan will not stop me from saying what is right. Let me make it clear that he will only try, he must be joking if he thinks he can erase the legacies left by the great Oloye”.

However, the governor in its reaction stated that, “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 the 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.

“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 belongs to them, but were taken away or dubiously converted for private use during the reigns of Saraki and his cronies.

“From the alleged 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 allegedly sold to themselves or mismanaged, the list is endless.

“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”.

The statement further added: “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.

“Restoring sanity in a growing capital city like Ilorin requires courageous leadership that will not be stonewalled by the blackmail of the likes of Saraki.

“The urban renewal of Governor Abdulrazaq is being done with full regard for the law, pragmatic empathy, and our context as a people – just as we saw in the years of the late Major General George Innih who took Ilorin to the next level in urban renewal and physical development”.