The Media Office of former Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has described the claim by the Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq’s administration that it has constructed more roads than past administrations as false and “another clear example of the governor’s obsession with the personality and achievements of one of his predecessors.”

In a statement signed by Mr. Abdulganiyu Abdulqadir, Press Officer to Saraki on Local Matters, the Media Office also described the administration’s claim on road construction as “a dubious attempt to divert public attention from the security crisis in the state, on which the governor and his administration have shown no clear understanding of how to respond.”

The Media Office called on the Kwara State Government to provide details of all the roads it claimed to have constructed and to indicate how many of them opened access to new areas and brought development to previously uncharted communities.

“It is easy to grandstand and make dubious claims with figures of kilometres of roads. Are we talking about merely pouring asphalt on existing roads as achievements? If scraping already tarred and smooth roads and putting new asphalt on them at huge cost often with contracts awarded to one major contractor for reasons best known to the governor is what the AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq administration is celebrating, then its understanding of development is warped, narrow, and infantile.

“Again, the Kwara State governor knows quite well that what he calls road construction cannot compare with what past administrations achieved in the state. It is a mockery of the phrase ‘road construction,’ and that is why the so-called projects have not brought development or economic prosperity to the state.

“We also once again call public attention to the Kwara State governor’s obsession with the name Saraki, a former governor who left office in a dignified blaze of glory 15 years ago. Why are Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq and his handlers always incensed whenever the name Saraki is mentioned? If it is true that Saraki did not perform well, as they want people to believe, why is his administration always the benchmark against which the present government measures its success? This obsession has led the government to chase the immaterial while neglecting substance.

“Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq is resorting to this obsession because he had no manifesto with which he campaigned for office. He made no concrete promises to the people. His 2019 campaign was built around scaremongering, ‘don’t vote for Saraki and his party; they have been in government for too long.’ He offered no clear agenda, and his fixation on Saraki’s achievements has now become the focus of his governance narrative.

“It is also noticeable that the media handlers of the AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq administration are constantly seeking ways to divert attention from serious issues. We ask: Is scraping roads and pouring asphalt, termed ‘road construction’ more important than the security of lives and property, which is currently at one of its lowest points in the state?

“Daily, people are being killed, kidnapped, displaced from their homes and farms, while their properties are being attacked. This negative development stems from the governor’s incompetence and inability to be proactive, even as neighbouring states grappled with security challenges. Criminal elements have now found a conducive environment under a careless and clueless administration.

“Was Kwara State this insecure when Saraki left office in 2011? Even at the height of Boko Haram insurgency in the North-East and other parts of the North, Saraki’s administration made the state a haven for residents and visitors. We ask Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq whether he is satisfied with the current security situation in the state under his watch.

“However, the public should be wary of these diversionary tactics, which only worsen the security crisis confronting the state. These unwarranted attacks and false claims are cheap propaganda that will be rejected by the generality of the people.

“We call on the Kwara State governor and members of his administration to focus on critical issues that will bring genuine and sustainable peace and development to the people and to desist from ineffective diversionary tactics,” the Media Office stated.