The Kwara State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has condemned the recent attempt by Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq to deceive and confuse the people of Kwara State with his contradictory positions on local government autonomy.
The party in a statement issued in Ilorin on Wednesday and signed and made to Just Event Online TV by the state publicity secretary, Olusegun Olusola Adewara, said the Kwara people will recall that our party last week praised the Federal Government’s decision to drag Governor Abdulrazaq to the Supreme Court in a bid to rescue the 16 local governments from his wicked manipulation and strangulation. We also cautioned the Governor against filing an objection to the Federal Government’s processes in the Supreme Court, as this would undermine the FG’s people-friendly intention to make local governments autonomous and work for the people.
However, in a desperate bid to continue his manipulation and extend his illegal control over local government funds in Kwara State, Governor Abdulrazaq, through the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in the state, Mr. Senior Ibrahim Sulyman, has filed an objection to the FG’s case at the Supreme Court. Shockingly, the Governor even made it known to the court that granting local governments their autonomy would further impoverish the people.
The party said Governor Abdulrazaq who was sensing the public condemnation that has greeted the processes he filed at the Supreme Court, quickly directed his media handlers to issue a local statement distancing himself from the very processes he had already filed in the Supreme Court. What a double standard!
This action is an irresponsible display of leadership weakness on the part of the Kwara State government and is indicative of the government’s fear of the consequences of actions. Instead of toeing this dishonorable path, our party advises Mallam Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq to publicly apologize to the people of Kwara, especially the grassroots dwellers who are the direct victims of his impunity against the local governments, and withdraw his processes filed at the Supreme Court immediately.
This would serve as a litmus test to his self-acclaimed belief in local government autonomy and would be more effective than mere press releases by his media handlers.
Kwara people and lovers of democracy should not be swayed by Governor Abdulrahman’s antics and media propaganda aimed at presenting himself as a champion of local government autonomy. Instead, they should question his historical records of deliberate attacks and crippling of local government since 2019.
For the record, the first official action taken by Abdulrahman as Governor of Kwara State, shortly after his inauguration in May 2019, was to connive with his surrogates in the House of Assembly to illegally dissolve the existing democratic structure of the 16 local government areas by announcing the suspension of all its elected officials, despite court orders restraining him and the House from doing so.
Governor Abdulrahman relied on trumped-up allegations of misappropriation, which to date could not be established against any of the officials, to dissolve them without committing any crime other than being members of the opposition party.
It should be noted that a few months after, those elected officials indicated their interest in joining APC, the Governor’s political party, and immediately, their investigation of alleged corruption was halted, with one of them now appointed as Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.
This singular action is an indictment on the Governor and the Kwara House of Assembly. It further exposes Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq as an enemy of democracy and, the rule of law, and a clog in the wheel of local government autonomy and progress.
The Kwara PDP wishes to also remind Kwarans that two years ago, during a constitution amendment process aimed at granting full autonomy to local governments in Nigeria, out of 16 states that voted in support of the LG autonomy bill, Kwara State, under the dictate of Governor Abdulrahman, was intentionally absent. Sixteen other progressive states like Osun, Edo, Anambra, Cross Rivers, Kano, etc., were on the ground to cast their votes in favor of LG autonomy.
The Kwara PDP asks Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq: where was his belief in LG Autonomy at that time when he ought to have mobilized his House of Assembly to join other states with genuine desires for LG autonomy?
Under Governor Abdulrahman’s leadership in Kwara State, local government governance was marred by the unprecedented appointment of governor’s surrogates as caretaker committees, who even spent more than 3 years, a constitutional tenure of elected chairmen, in office, looting council treasuries on behalf of the Governor. Even when faced with court orders to dismiss them and ensure they were made to refund all remunerations, the governor brazenly ignored these court’s directives, perpetuating a culture of disregard for the rule of law.
The governor’s actions raised questions about his fake commitment to local government autonomy, as his administration’s conduct directly undermined the constitutional principles of democratic governance. No provision in the constitution empowers such abuse of power.
It is therefore laughable for Governor Abdulrahman to take Kwara people for fools with his pretentious press statements and media vocabularies aimed at painting himself as a believer in local government autonomy.
A Governor who recently brandished some locally fabricated ambulances and security vehicles, which were all procured with local government money and presented to the public as if they were state government projects, now coming around to claim that the local government will be impoverished if granted autonomy from his illegal control, must be thinking he is addressing kindergarten pupils, not informed citizens.
The PDP in Kwara State urges our people to ignore Abdulrahman’s pretense and rally around the PDP in its determination to rescue our local governments from his oppressive grip.
We appeal to Kwarans to dust off their voter cards in preparation for local government elections and ensure they prove to the Abdulrahman-led APC Government that they can no longer be fooled by propaganda and cosmetic press statements from his media handlers.
