AbdulRahman, The Prodigal Son-Abdulwahab Oba

While the stage is finally set to talk some sense into AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq   with regard to his continued reckless, unguided and irrational statements concerning his predecessors, It was good he spoke out on Saturday in Ilorin hitting out, in his mind, at the opposition, particularly the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its leader, former Senate president, Dr Bukola Saraki. 

Many must have clapped for him as the native artists raised their voices in adulation as he launched his usual diatribe against the PDP and other parties. But the wise among his party elders, the discerning among his party followers would have recoiled at what was coming out of the governor’s mouth because those who do real politics, unlike the governor who operates from a solo base, understand that in reality the PDP, and the Saraki dynasty that he claimed had died in 2019, are alive, active, and recording daily success due largely to his administration’s policy  failures. 

The monumental debt and excessive misuse of executive power are too glaring, even to the blind. AbdulRazaq runs a lawless government and treats civil servants with an unprecedented disdain never witnessed in the 55 years of history of the state. AbdulRahman remains the most awful government in the history of our state. Instead of being accountable to Kwarans for how he appropriated more than half a trillion naira that has accrued to the state, he has continued to make spurious and deranged allegations of financial infractions by the previous government.

What happened to the N17.9b he said he kept in the  commercial bank not only remains a mirage but economically implausible

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It is only a matter of weeks away and the reality of his political folly will hit him hard. The innocent teachers that were sacked rather than collect their confirmation letters will speak loudly through their votes. Kwara Hotel workers whose jobs were put on the line for simply asking for their rightful entitlements will demonstrate their resentment, along with their families, for an autocratic governor who abhors basic tenets of democracy.

The entire workforce whose core responsibilities have been contracted out to less qualified persons for suspicious reasons will show their strength by voting out the vindictive governor who unlawfully terminated the appointment of the Auditor-General of the state for carrying out his legitimate responsibility. 

Possibly because he had never tasted executive authority until he became the governor, AbdulRazak behaves like “Omo oju ori Ola ri”. He violated every known index of good governance either because of ignorance or an inferiority complex. Despite subsisting Supreme Court judgment on the contrary, AbdulRazaq dissolved duly elected local government officials for Transition Implementation Committee (TIC) to 16 LGAs and continues to engage in tenure extensions for civil servants, thereby preventing serving officers from rising to the pinnacle of their careers. 

In his parody of the Saraki establishment, AbdulRazaq made a mockery of a basic principle of democracy to wit, that membership of a political party starts from the grassroots. This clearly shows how shallow our governor is when it comes to the basic elements of democracy. But of course, it also shows how convenient it is for him to wake up each day and concoct his ideas of how things worked in the Saraki dynasty.

Unfortunately, when he shares his ideas with the real world beyond his world, the paucity of his ideas comes forth and men of real intellect will shake their heads in dismay. 

Let the world just ask Governor Abdulrazaq one question: who is the opposition that Saraki is courting to oust the APC from the government? I have done this sometimes in the past and I will do it here again; I will list some of their names as a reminder to our governor. There is Professor Shuaib AbdulRaheem, governorship candidate of the NNPP and his supporters. There is Hakeem Lawal, the governorship candidate of the SDP and his supporters. There is Alhaji Yakubu Gobir, the governorship candidate of the YPP. Of course, there is Alhaji Abdullahi Shuaibu Yaman of the PDP. There is also Alhaji Cook Olododo, SDP House of Reps candidate , there is Saheed Popoola, there is Akogun Oyedepo. There is Alhaji Lai Mohammed and his team. The list is endless. 

These are men who just less than four years ago stood with AbdulRazaq against the Saraki dynasty to make him  become the governor. In less than two years, they parted ways with him. What type of leadership has the governor offered to create this scenario? Betrayal, deceit, arrogance, exclusivity and ineptitude! These honourable men have since realized that our governor is not only obsessed with Saraki but possibly intellectually unfit to steer the ship of state. Thus, this time they won’t repeat the same mistake. AbdulRazaq is the greatest mistake in the political history of our state and no amount of propaganda will whiten his black ensemble. 

Contrary to his claims, the Saraki dynasty is still strong and welcoming politicians who despair about the state of affairs in Kwara. They are worried about the clueless way affairs of the state are being run. They despair over the lack of accountability. They despair over a government that is inaccessible to the people who put it in place. They despair over a government that cannot keep its promise to the electorates. Like the biblical prodigal son who asked his father for his inheritance, then squandered it because he lived a life of indulgence, AbdulRahman has wasted the unprecedented opportunity he has to positively write his name in the golden sands of time. ,

If Saraki is reaching out to the opposition parties it is not a strange development and it is not a sign of the demise of the formidable political dynasty. It is always in the way of great politicians to seek cooperation and synergy with  like-minded individuals  and in this case all the opposition parties are united in one thing: the incompetent APC government in Kwara state must go. If AbdulRazaq is angry over this, or is jittery over it, he might as well put in his letter and withdraw from the race and save us all the time and resources being put into the coming elections. Otherwise, he should be prepared to meet us on the Election Day- Alhaji Wahab Oba ,who is Alhaji Abdulahi Yaman’s Special Adviser on Media, writes from Ilorin