GOVERNANCE ASSESSMENT: GROUP CALLS FOR VIGILANCE, URGES KWARA GOVERNOR TO PROTECT STATE TREASURY

The Kwara Development Foundation, KWADEF has called for an unwavering vigilance from all stakeholders in Kwara State to sustain the gains of the recent political struggle that gave birth to the current dispensation in the State. The group also urged the State governor, Alhaji Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq to “protect the treasury and the commonwealth of Kwara from vultures within and outside the state.”

Rising from its monthly meeting last weekend, where it assessed “Democracy and Governance” in Kwara in the last two years, Kwadef in a statement signed by its President, Dr. Kolawole Afolabi and Publicity Secretary, Oluwasegun Abifarin, explained that the emergence of Governor Abdulrazaq as a result of the “Oto ge” revolution actually brought an end to monopoly of certain forces that have held the State down for years.

According to the group, “to the glory God, the last two years have seen a change of power equation from one man to the people,” adding  that  “we cannot shy away from Governor Abdulrazaq’s strides in human capital development, agricultural revitalisation, and Infrastructural renewal/development which have gone beyond the state capital.”

The statement added further that “KWADEF was proud that the governor has focused on investments in basic education, primary healthcare, gender inclusion, youth’s engagement, citizen engagements, and efforts designed to open up government for public scrutiny and accountability in manners consistent with the political barometer of the state.”

According to KWADEF, “governance in Kwara has never been this sweet, because every segment of the society is feeling it. Before May 2019, water tanker was the source of potable water in most parts of the State capital, even in the Government House. Today, Pipe-borne water is back and stable in Ilorin metropolis while nearly 500 boreholes have either been dug or rehabilitated across the state.

“Workers are also collecting their salary.  A lot of roads have been rehabilitated, healthcare facilities are being upgraded and backlog of debts are being repaid. As at today, Kwara is off the UBEC blacklist. It has accessed a backlog of N7.1bn UBEC counterpart funds with a matching grant of N7.1bn to gradually reposition the schools.”

The group however urged the governor to address the lingering frosty relationship between him and his party, the APC, which has become an ”own goal in the net of the administration and the party”.