Orisun Igbomina has reacted to recent comments by the Archbishop of Kwara Anglican Province, Most Rev. Israel Amoo, during the funeral of the late Chief Cornelius Olatunji Adebayo, former Governor of Kwara State, held at Oke Onigbin on Saturday, where the cleric insincerely rebuked the Kwara state Governor over alleged suffering of pensioners in the state and the deplorable condition of our roads, particularly in rural areas.
In a statement signed by the National President of the sociocultural organization, Chief Gbenga Awoyale, the Association said: “We would ordinarily ignore such uninformed commentary, but coming from a revered cleric, if left unchecked, may be taken for a fact — a misleading one at that. Our organization’s silence therefore would amount to complicity in the politically motivated attack on Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, whom has done better than those whose interest the Archbishop attempted to protect.
“To clear public doubts about the political affiliation of Archbishop Amao, it is important to note his long-standing loyalty to the Saraki dynasty, dating back to 1992 when he was first appointed as Chairman of local government election petition tribunal under Shaaba Lafiagi’s administration. Archbishop Amao’s continued loyalty to the Sarakis was also compensated by Gov. Bukola Saraki upon assumption of office in 2003, with the chairmanship of Kwara State Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board, a position he held till Saraki completed his first term in 2007. Saraki also appointed Amao to chair a fact-finding committee on Kwara State College of Education, Oro, in 2006. In 2008, after winning a second term election, Saraki again appointed Amao as the Chairman of the Kwara State Library Board.
“Archbishop Amao also assisted Sen. Bukola Saraki in the electioneering process leading to the emergence of Gov. Abdulfatah Ahmed in 2011, which informed his reappointment into the Kwara State Christian Pilgrims Welfare Board in 2011, a position he occupied for another four (4) years.
“Drawing from the above, it is no brainer that Archbishop Amao is a dramatis personae in Kwara state political gamesmanship, with his strong and steadfast commitment resting with the Sarakis dating back over three decades. We, however, expected that as a man of God, Archbishop Amao would be a man of God and not a Sarakite on the pulpit. However, his partisanship betrayed his faith, as he deliberately attempted to hide cleric-ship to throw ignorance-laden political shades.
“As a people of Igbomina-land, where Isin Local Government belongs, we make bold to say that no governor in the history of Kwara — including the benefactors of Archbishop Amao — has done anything close to Gov. AbdulRazaq in terms of road infrastructure in Igbomina land and Kwara South entirely.
“Emphatically, in Irepodun Local Government alone, Gov. AbdulRazaq constructed Esie Museum Road, Okerimi Oro Junction/NITEL Oro Junction, Omuaran-Oko, Oro-Esie-Agbonda-Arandun Road, which cut across four political wards, Okeya-Ajassepo Road, and Agbamu-Ila Border, which links Kwara to Osun State. In Ifelodun, Okeya-Igbaja-Yaru Road, which links Irepodun with Ifelodun, Owa-Kajola Road, Alaabe-Oreke-Babanla Road, among others, are also projects completed by the governor, with many still ongoing.
“In Isin local government, Gov. AbdulRazaq has also constructed Ring road, in same Oke Onigbin where Archbishop Amao was making unsubstantiated claims, including Pamo junction – Oba – Owa Kajola road. Oke Onigbin -Oyegbo Road, Sabaja – Odo Eku Road, Eleyin – Isanlu Isin Road, Oke Onigbin – Iji Road, Edidi – Odo Eku Road, Sabaja- Pamo Road and Oke Aba to Odo Ore Road are roads constructed by AbdulRazaq’s administration in Isin local government.
“We, therefore, find it disappointing that a learned silk of Archbishop Amao’s caliber feigned ignorance of all the great strides of Gov. AbdulRazaq in Igbomina land, but chose to rebuke the governor based on the alleged deplorable state of a federal road that is even currently receiving rehabilitative attention.
“We also note with dismay the intellectual hypocrisy displayed by the Archbishop in an attempt to score cheap political points over the Kwara state pensioners’ welfare. It is important to remind Amao that his political master, under whose interest he placed the words of God that he served, did not only suffocate pensioners during their reigns of misgovernance, but Gov. Saraki took #30 billion in loans for the purpose of clearing the backlog of gratuities. However, he dashed the pensioners’ hope after series of engagements and only released 50% for the intended purpose, leaving the pensioners to wallow in poverty. Amao’s voice was lost, we assume, perhaps because he was preventing aspirations while dining with the Sarakis.
“The Archbishop, however, chose to misdirect his politically motivated fury at a government that inherited gratuities burden from 2008 to 2019 — while he was silently dining with his party men, a mess that the present government continues to clear to date, with over N20 billion paid so far. AbdulRazaq’s administration has cleared the burden of gratuities from 2009 to June 2011 for local government areas and has also made staggered payments to many people from 2008 to 2024, as a matter of spread/equity for state-level gratuities.
“It is also worthy of note that Archbishop Amao’s party, as of 2019, left pension arrears from 2013. But today, no single pension debt remains in Kwara. Yet, Amao, a supposed man of God who lost his voice in the dark days, appears to be joining forces with agents of political darkness attempting to overshadow the illumination of good governance in Kwara state.
“We, therefore, wish to advise Archbishop Amao to have a rethink and reconsider whether he wants to remain a man of God, or wants to fully wear the garment of partisan politics. The altar is not the same as the political campaign ground — while the former is for preaching the truth and the words of God, while the latter best serves the interests he wishes. He has the right to choose to deceive the people but should fear the last breath he preaches by not using the altar of God to advance his selfish political interests,” the statement concluded.
