Kwara Politics Today

07/04/2023

Happy Good Friday

03/04/2023

*A MUST READ INTERVIEW BY ASIWAJU BOLA AHMED TINUBU*

Q. *When were you arrested?*

*I said we would continue to struggle until we had democracy.*We had a group of 30 Senators called the G-30. The G-30 was determined to actualise the mandate on the floor of the Senate.* *Suddenly, Abacha came and General Oladipupo Diya and Babagana Kingibe were also running around.*Diya was one of the most respected and credible military officers then, and he later approached us that there might be change in government. Abiola was around.*General Chris Alli met us and said there would be a change of government, which would be in favour of June 12, because they were tired of the shenanigans of the ING.*That night, Abacha changed the government. He outsmarted everybody.* *They met with me, Dele Alake, Segun Babatope and Doyin Abiola.*We were asked to write the terms and conditions, which they would broadcast after a change of government*. *We wrote it and gave it to Diya. They are all alive.*
*On the night the government was to be changed, Abacha outsmarted everyone and installed himself.* *These people I mentioned are all alive to testify to what I have said. I can say categorically that I was even called to leave my office because, as they claimed, that night was a dangerous night for them and that everyone’s life might be in danger.* *Abiola was told not to sleep at home until the broadcast had been made. We were all fooled! Big time deception.*
*When we heard the broadcast the next day, there was no mention of June 12 and no proclamation of Abiola. I was mad, but was still determined.* *I rushed to Diya and he was still saying that there was no problem and that they were planning to announce the cabinet containing eminent June 12 people. Abiola said what? I said no, announce Abiola’s victory.*
*Diya told me that I didn’t know the military and that things were not done like that in the military.* *But I insisted that it was deception. I said I know the military. I called Okadigbo to my office in Lagos and I put the plan before him that we had to confront the military and we had to declare Abacha himself illegal.* *I got members of our group together; we wrote the script declaring Abacha’s government illegal. Since we could not get to the National Assembly, we opted to hold our session at the Tafawa Balewa Square.* *We had gotten Dele Alake to be the media coordinator.* *We told him to get the CNN and other foreign media ready. I put the coat of arms on a rod! That was the mace. We created our own mace.*
*We reconvened the Senate here in Lagos and declared Abacha illegal before the international media and others.* *My colleagues had scattered. After we assembled, and having drafted the resolution, they still didn’t know where we would hold the session. I told them to relax, this is Lagos.* *After the broadcast, everybody took off, because the SSS and other security agents were combing everywhere for us. I went underground, using the 090 mobile phone.* *I was still granting press interviews to foreign media.**The military people were mad. I became a thorn in their flesh and they arrested some of my colleagues, including Abu Ibrahim, the late Polycarp Nwite, Ameh Ebute and Okoroafor. I was still underground, holding press conferences.* *The military declared me wanted.*
*Suddenly they granted bail to the arrested senators. I thought I would be a beneficiary, but I was not.*Then, there was a manhunt for me by the police and the SSS. Meanwhile, my late uncle, K.O Tinubu and the present Oba of Lagos, Oba Akiolu, who was then a police officer, were pressuring me to disclose where I was. My uncle called to ask where exactly I was. I did not disclose my whereabouts.*I told Akiolu that even though he is my relative, I would still not tell him where I was since he was a police officer! He said: ‘Ha!’*
*My uncle advised that the military would kill me if they found me underground and no one would be able to locate my whereabouts.* *He said it was better I surrendered myself because he wanted me to be alive.*I told him that I would call him back, that I was to hold a press conference at the time.*And he shouted in amazement: ‘You are holding press conference when your life is in danger.’ I told him I would surrender, but would not tell him when.*
*I disguised perfectly, dressed like a malam, and went to the police at Alagbon.* *The officers didn’t even know me when they saw me. I went in, deposited my phone and my charger. Senator Abu Ibrahim was with us.*The officers were wondering why I, a Mallam, could not speak Hausa! I removed my turban, showed up at the front desk and declared that I had come to surrender.*And there was pandemonium among the officers, as to how I got there.*
*The AIG then was very nice and they put me in the cell.* *They poured water into the cell room and said, ‘sleep there’. That was the nastiest experience I had within first 48 hours that I was there. It was on a weekend.*I told them I would embark on a hunger strike. The late Anthony Enahoro was on the stairway and Beko Ransome-Kuti was at another angle on the stairway.*They brought me out repeatedly for interrogation.* *They asked me to renounce but I said no, I would not recognise Abacha.* *They took me and my colleagues to court. People who were supposed to meet their bail conditions were stopped from doing so immediately they saw me.*They cancelled everybody’s bail because they could not isolate me.*
*They gave an order that we should be taken out of court, but kept in the police custody at Alagbon.* *They kept about eight of us in a photocopying room, an eight-by-eight room. We were sleeping across one another. It was a matter of the first to sleep would maintain the position. If your head was this way, your leg would be there and so on. It was a nasty experience.*
*There were a lot of interrogations, with a lot of carrot and stick. I can never forget the role and determination and sincerity of a compatriot at that particular time.*They made an exception to uphold the earlier bail granted to Senator Abu Ibrahim.*He was asked to go.*He was the only Hausa-Fulani man with us. The late Hassan Katsina had intervened.*But Senator Ibrahim said he would rather stay, except every one of us was granted the same bail conditions. He said he would not leave his colleagues behind.*
*He is a courageous and a detribalised Nigerian, who had a vision of what Nigeria should be. He refused to accept an isolated bail.*They started sending emissaries to us in detention, offering us all sorts of appointments and opportunities to renounce our positions, but we refused.*The judiciary was still very courageous then.*We went to the Court of Appeal. An incident occurred at the lower court.*Market women turned out hugely to support us when we were brought to the court.*The day they refused my bail, some of the market women appeared naked and so they stopped taking us to the court. The court sessions were usually interesting for us because of the scenes.*At Alagbon, we bathed in the open between 4 and 5 a.m.*
*The condition started improving when they began to bring officials of the failed banks.*Those ones contributed money to repair the generating set at Alagbon and we started enjoying electricity a little longer than we used to. It was during the time that the protest became intense.* *Nigeria was playing at the World Cup then. Italy defeated Nigeria and the security people lied to us that it was otherwise.* *Eventually, the Court of Appeal courageously granted us bail in enforcement of our fundamental human rights.*Our passports were confiscated and deposited with the court.*Later, the High Court ruled that our passports be released to us. That night, they finally announced our bail and conditions attached to it.*The presiding judge then is today the Emir of Ilorin, Sulu Gambari. We heard that they put so much pressure on him (Clement Akpamgbo was the Attorney-General) not to release us, but he ordered our release.* *They were going to re-arrest me and I suddenly went underground to continue my protest.*
*They would throw bombs and say it was us.*Mobil called me to come back to my job, but I refused. They bombed my house, but luckily, my wife and children had been evacuated.*I would not want to reveal how they were evacuated because there was a diplomatic involvement.* *They told me that my life and those of my family were in clear danger.*
*Suddenly, they announced that I was wanted again.*They alleged that I was going to bomb the NNPC depot at Ejigbo. Ah! I was still being tried for treason, which carries a sentence of life imprisonment, and I was again accused of trying to bomb an NNPC depot. I couldn’t go back because my photograph was all over the place that I was wanted. A diplomatic source advised me that I should leave the country if I wanted to continue the struggle. Dan Suleiman, Alani Akinrinade were in danger. We asked Bolaji Akinyemi to leave the country and promote the struggle at the international level.*

*That was the National Democratic Coalition then*

*Yes. I was at the forefront of the struggle at that level. When I went to see my uncle, K.O Tinubu, at home, he shed tears that night. He said he didn’t want to lose me and that I was about to be killed. He begged me to leave Nigeria and affirmed that, being a former police officer, he was sure I would be killed.*
*He said that I couldn’t return to my house since they had bombed it.*I went to a friend’s house. Before then, there was an incident that made them believe that I was at Ore Falomo’s hospital. They went to the hospital to look for me. Eventually, I left Nigeria for Benin Republic by NADECO route.*

*How did you make it across the border?*

*I disguised with a huge turban and babanriga and escaped into Benin Republic on a motorbike. My old Hausa friend gave the clothes to me. In fact, when I appeared to Kudirat Abiola, she didn’t know that I was the one! I gave her some information and some briefing. I left at 1 a.m. While in Benin Republic, I was still coming to Badagry to ferry people, organise and coordinate the struggle with others on ground. We put a group together, ferrying NADECO people across. It was a very challenging time. I can’t forget people like Segun Maiyegun and other young guys in the struggle. I would come from Benin to hold meetings with them and sneak back. The military created a whole lot of momentum around me.*They took over my house, guest house and carted away all my vehicles and property to Alagbon. That is why today, I don’t have old photographs. They took eight of my cars away.*
*My wife and my two toddlers were dropped in a bush; nowhere to go.*Beko and the diplomatic missions came to our aid and ferried my wife and kids to the United States.*I was still in Benin Republic. Besides, I didn’t have a passport and couldn’t have been able to travel. At a stage, they discovered our routes, because they had spies all over, including Benin Republic. Twice I was caught and I fortuitously escaped. They traced me to one dingy hotel I was hiding.*
*The day they came for me at the hotel, I had gone out on an Okada to buy amala at a market, where Yorubas are dominant. I was also to meet Akinrinade and the rest of them* *The spies went to the hotel and as I was approaching, I saw two people wearing tajia (skull caps) at the front desk, asking questions. The man attending to them at the reception (I had been very nice to the receptionist) winked to me and I turned back.*I contacted a friend in Benin Republic, who was an architect, and had very strong sympathy for us.*Professor Wole Soyinka and Alani Akinrinade, who lodged in a better hotel, were fortunate to have escaped that night, too. The people on their trail pursued them to the hotel, but fortunately missed them.*
*Then the British High Commission got proper information through the Consular-General that my life was in danger.* *He stamped a visa on a sheet of paper and did a letter, authorising the airline to pick me from Benin Republic to any port of entry in Britain. I didn’t know how they got to me.*A lady just walked up to me and handed me an envelope. She said I had been granted an entry into the United Kingdom. She said I could be killed if I failed to leave in the next 48 hours. It was Air Afrique that took me from Benin Republic to London.* *Meanwhile, my wife was still in the United States.*I landed in Britain and worked my way back to Benin Republic. I picked up my passport from somewhere. I went to an African country and through their connections, they gave me a diplomatic passport as a cultural ambassador.*

*What country was that?*

*No, please! The African country that helped us with the diplomatic passport was showing gratitude for the help Abiola had done to its president before. So, you can make your deduction. Then, I was shuffling and coordinating our activities in the UK, Benin Republic and Cote d’Ivoire. I used the passport to travel to Cote d’Ivoire to hold meetings at the Hotel Continental, because we were planning to make another broadcast that would be aired in Nigeria. By the time I returned to the hotel, the military assailants had broken into my hotel room and taken away my briefcase and diplomatic passport.* *They dropped a note, saying: ‘You cannot be twice lucky.’ I was taken over by panic.* *Fortunately, in my back pocket, I had the photocopy of the sheet of paper on which the British had stamped a visa for me to travel out of Benin previously. I took that to the British High Commission in Abidjan.*They listened to my story and asked me to come back at night. They did all their verification and found my story to be true. I returned to them and they gave me another sheet of paper and wrote the number of the flight that would take me out of that country.*
*But I had no money. Somebody suddenly drove in. The person is a well-known name I don’t want to mention.*I met him and explained my condition. He had a traveller’s cheque, but the money was not enough.*I went back to the British High Commission and the woman said she could assist me with her own personal money to bridge the shortfall in cash*
*We founded and coordinated Radio Kudirat and Radio Freedom and we continued to organise. I didn’t see my family for two good years. They were in America. Bayo Onanuga, who also was part of the struggle, joined us there in December 1997. The law of political asylum stipulates that your first country of landing and acceptance is the safe haven, so it’s not transferable. That was how Cornelius Adebayo was stuck in a United Nations camp. My wife had to invoke a family clause that exists in America to fight for her husband to join her before they granted me a special privilege to leave UK to join my family in the United States.Announcement Announcements.*

*I implore everyone to read, digest and post to other platforms so that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tunubu's enemies will know that this man is truly a democrat who fought for the democracy we all enjoying today.*
*He had long paid the price for the PRESIDENCY of this great country.*
*Indeed and in fact* *Oun lo kan,*Bola lo kan, *BOLA AHMED TINUBU (BAT) lo Kan.*

*TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY*sodam Care's*

31/03/2023

Kwara APC harps on reconciliation among members

31/03/2023

*Kwara Gov sends seven nominees for KWASIEC board to Assembly*

Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has submitted to the State House of Assembly seven nominees for the board of the Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission (KWSIEC).

“Having now cleared all legal logjams on its way, the process for the conduct of the local government election has begun. This begins with the immediate constitution of the KWSIEC board once the nominees have been confirmed by the parliament,” according to a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor Rafiu Ajakaye.

“This will be followed earnestly
by other steps already stipulated in the law, including notice of election.”

Rafiu Ajakaye
Chief Press Secretary to the Governor
March 29, 2023

19/03/2023

*The Kwara State governorship elections results:*

_*1. Ekiti local government*_
Number of registered voters, 44,016.
Number of accredited voters, 11,849
APC 6,836
PDP 4,273
Total valid votes, 11,598
Rejected votes, 251
Total votes cast, 11,849.

_*2. Isin local government*_
Number of registered voters- 42,238
Number of accredited voters -9,631
Total votes cast -9630
Valid votes -9,438
Rejected votes-192
Total votes cast-9,630
APC 5,274
PDP 3,400

_*3. Offa Local government area.*_
Number of registered voters -97,945
Accredited voters -24,115
Total number of valid votes 23,531
Rejected votes -584
Over voting in Essa wards 002 and 006 as such votes in the two PUs were cancelled.
APC -14,696
PDP -6,705
SDP -1,289
Professor Lukman Ayinla Unilorin

_*4. Oke Ero LGA*_
Total 43,944
Accredited voters -11,942
APC -7,758
PDP -3,768
Valid -11,808
Rejected 134
Total votes -11,942

_*5. Oyun local government.*_
Reg voters 61672
Accredited voters 16533
APC -8,991
PDP -5,465
SDP 1,068
Valid votes 16170
Rejected 348
Total votes 16528
Cancellation at Ijagbo due to over-voting in one PU

_*6. Ilorin South local government*_
Reg voters 161,045
Accredited 36,741
APC -20,148
PDP -12,096
SDP -2,356
Valid votes -35,949
Rejected votes -774
Total votes cast -36,723

_*7. Asa local government*_
Reg 87923
Accredited 29,061
APC -14,946
PDP -11,183
Valid votes 27,907
Rejected votes -583
Total votes cast 28,490
Cancellation in two PUs due to
violent crisis

_*8. Irepodun local government*_
Reg voter 89644
Accredited 23,160
APC -12,860
PDP – 7,614
SDP -1,693
Total Valid votes -22,733
Rejected votes -427
Total votes cast -23,160

_*9. Moro local government*_
Registered voters -81,646
Accredited voters-24,928
APC -15,161
PDP -6,823
SDP -1992
Total Valid votes -24,466
Rejected votes -461
Total votes cast -24,927
Cancellation at one polling unit

_*10. Patigi local government*_
Reg voters -68,136
Accredited voters -21,930
APC -13,813
PDP -6,544
Total valid votes -20,976
Rejected votes -748
Total votes cast -21,724
Cancellation at two PUs due to over-voting.

_*11. Ilorin East local government*_
Registered voters -163,701
Accredited voters -43,578
APC -23,925
PDP -14,500
SDP -2,645
Total Valid votes -42,170
Rejected votes -1,015
Total votes cast -43,185
Cancellation at two wards in two PUs due to over-voting

_*12. Ifelodun local government*_
Registered voters -130,778
Accredited voters -29,500
APC -17,599
PDP -9,085
SDP -1,559
Total Valid votes -29,006
Rejected votes -494
Total votes cast -29,500

_*13. Kaiama local government area*_
Registered voters 87,871
Accredited voters 22,440
APC -14,431
PDP -6,297
Total Valid votes -21,773
Rejected votes -660
Total votes cast -22,433

_*14. Edu local government*_
Registered voters: 112160
Accredited voters: 42991
APC -22,458
PDP -17,378
Total Valid votes -41,331
Rejected vote -998
Total votes cast-42,329

_*15. Baruten local government*_
Registered voters -149,573
Accredited voters -38,637
APC -28,060
PDP -7,987
SDP -1492
Total Valid votes -37,873
Rejected votes -627
Total votes cast -38,500

_*16. Ilorin West local government area*_
Registered voters -273,635
Accredited voters -85,736
APC -46,468
PDP -32,372
Total Valid votes -83,758
Rejected vote -1,978
Total votes cast -85,736
Cancellation on ground of over- voting in three PUs

19/03/2023

Election Results

State: Kwara State

Local Government: Kaiama LG

Election Type: Governorship

Result

No of Registered Voters: 87,871

No of Accredited Voters: 22,440

Total valid votes: 21,773

Rejected votes:660

List of Parties and Total Vote per party

AA: 05
ADC: 13
APC: 14,431
APM:48
ADP: 76
LP: 121
NNPP: 73
PDP: 6,297
SDP: 624
YPP: 12
APP: 18
ZLP: 09
PRP: 18
AAC:09
NRM:19

Total vote cast:22,433

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19/03/2023

19/03/2023

GOVERNORSHIP Final Scores in BARUTEN LGA.

APC 28,060
PDP 7,987
SDP. 1,492

19/03/2023

Ilorin East Local Government

APC 23,925✅

PDP 14,500

19/03/2023

Final Results:- OYUN LGA
Governorship Elections

APC 8,991
PDP 5,465

19/03/2023

APC ✅

GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION

STATE: KWARA
LGA: ILORIN SOUTH

AA 80
AAC 07
ADC 68
ADP 113
APC 20,148
APM 51
APP 38
LP 369
NNPP 419
PDP 12,096
PRP 69
SDP 2,357
YPP 113
ZLP 21

19/03/2023

APC ✅

GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION

STATE: KWARA
LGA: OKE-ERO

AA 02
AAC 03
ADC 18
ADP 29
APC 7,758
APM 11
APP 03
LP 34
NNPP 21
PDP 3,768
PRP 04
SDP 149
YPP 08
ZLP 00

19/03/2023

APC ✅

GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION

STATE: KWARA
LGA: ISIN

AA 13
AAC 04
ADC 22
ADP 34
APC 5,274
APM 17
APP 10
LP 37
NNPP 25
PDP 3,400
PRP 07
SDP 567
YPP 25
ZLP 03

19/03/2023

APC ✅

GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION

STATE: KWARA
LGA: OFFA

AA 39
AAC 14
ADC 130
ADP 50
APC 14,696
APM 17
APP 10
LP 104
NNPP 180
PDP 6,705
PRP 10
SDP 1,289
YPP 271
ZLP 13

19/03/2023

APC ✅

GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION

STATE: KWARA
LGA: EKITI

AA 01
AAC 06
ADC 203
ADP 45
APC 6,836
APM 11
APP 06
LP 20
NNPP 09
PDP 4,273
PRP 03
SDP 170
YPP 06
ZLP 01
NPM 08

19/03/2023

Kwara PDP Guber Candidate, Yaman loses Local Government to Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq .

Edu LGA Governorship results
Apc - 22,458
PDP - 17,378

State House Edu LGA
APC- 21,165
PDP -15,297

09/03/2023

*Kwara transporters hold solidarity rally for AbdulRazaq's re-election bid*
• We appreciate your support, Gov tells transporters

Thousands of transporters from various unions on Wednesday held a solidarity rally in Ilorin to drum support for the re-election bid of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.

The transporters stormed various parts of the capital city before arriving Government House where they reassured the Governor of their total support for his comeback bid in the Saturday ballot.

Deputy President of Nigeria Labour Congress and former National President of NURTW Alhaji Najeem Yasin, who led thousands of transporters on the solidarity rally, said the unions would also back other candidates of the ruling party to ensure that AbdulRazaq has all the backing he requires to run a smooth government.

"We are here today to express our support for your second term bid. We have agreed to all work for the success of APC in Saturday's governorship and house of assembly elections," Yasin said.

"We are happy that Kwara APC recorded 100% success in the previous elections. We are determined to record the same feat in the governorship and House of Assembly elections. It is important that we all work for the success of all the APC candidates for the smooth running of government."

At the rally were the Kwara Chairman of Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) Alhaji AbdulRahman Olayinka Onikijipa; his National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) counterpart Alhaji Alhaji AbdulRazaq Ariwoola; Chairman, Tricycle Owners Association of Nigeria (TOAN), Alhaji Saliu Gidado; Chairman, Okada Riders Association of Nigeria (ORAN) Elder Gabriel Ajewole; among other leaders of the unions.

They appreciated the Governor for the upliftment of members of the unions through various empowerment platforms, and assured him of massive votes in the Saturday election.

They described the re-election bid of Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq as a done deal, God willing, in view of the developmental drives of his administration across the nooks and crannies of the state.

Governor AbdulRazaq, for his part, appreciated members of the transport unions for their support, resilience, and active participation in the presidential and National Assembly elections, which led to the victory of APC.

"Let me appreciate you for the last elections. Through your work and the efforts of other stakeholders, APC won the last elections in Kwara State. Out of all the states, Kwara scored 100% and we are number one in Nigeria. We thank you," he said.

"There was a prediction that any party that won Kwara State wins the presidency, and we made it come to pass. I want to thank you for the massive votes for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and APC other candidates in February 25 elections despite fuel and cash scarcity in the country. I want to assure you that with the closeness of Alhaji Najeem Yasin, you will be rewarded for your support.

"Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is aware of various challenges confronting the nation, including in the transport sector. He will sit down with your leadership and solve them. He will surmount all challenges going forward. Let's be hopeful that we will resolve them one by one.

"Let us continue to canvass for votes and come out on Saturday to vote massively for the APC."

Rafiu Ajakaye
Chief Press Secretary to the Governor
March 8, 2023

05/03/2023

Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq attends his Adewole Ward House to House Governorship campaign at Gaa-Aremu, Ilorin.

The Governor on behalf of the President-elect Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu thanked Kwarans for voting APC at the last election.

AbdulRazaq who has always been identifying with his people understands that all politics is local. He charged Kwarans to come out en masse to vote all APC Candidates again on March 11 without complacency.

04/03/2023

Kwara became the state with the largest Intensive Care Unit in North Central Nigeria during the administration of Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq.

25/12/2022

I felicitate Christians on the occasion of this year's Christmas. This is no doubt a unique moment to celebrate and reflect upon God’s mercies and the birth of Jesus Christ.

On behalf of the people and government of Kwara State, I join the Christian community to share in the happiness of the moment. I wish every family a joyous and safe celebration of the reason for the season.

I especially commend the Christian community for being great partners of our administration in the development of Kwara State.

AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq
Governor, Kwara State

27/10/2022

*How Prof Awodun used personal company to secure KWIRS contract under him: Investigation*
• Ex-IRS chief indicted for criminal misappropriation

Details have emerged about how former KW-IRS chairman Prof. Murtala Awodun used his own personal company, CSDC Consulting Enterprise Solutions, to secure multibillion naira consultancy contract.

As a public officer, it is considered a criminal breach of public trust for a serving official to bid for and win contracts under the same company he heads. Perhaps oblivious to the consequences, Awodun was said in a Thisday interview of September 10, 2022 to be the chief operating officer of the CSDC Consulting Enterprise Solutions.

Audit report recently released on the activities of key MDAs under the former administration showed how Awodun’s CSDC got the contract to provide a software called Amanda at a mouthwatering amount. Even though the software never really delivered as agreed, KW-IRS under Awodun continued to pay the firm for a software that never worked.

“CSDC Enterprise Solutions was supposed to provide solution (software) called ‘Amanda’ to the KWIRS according to the Memorandum of Understanding provided. We were told that the software was deployed to few points but because it was not effective, the Service did not use the software, various sums were paid to the company on a monthly basis,” according to excerpts of the audit report seen by this medium.

“Furthermore, the purported sum due to this Company was being taken out of KWIRS through the staff of the Service (Ibrahim Saliu, Michael Dada, Fausat Ismail, IOD and Prodemics Global Investment on the approval of the Chairman.”

Lawyers who reviewed the report categorised the conduct of Awodun as criminal misappropriation and recommended that he be referred to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission or the ICPC for various malfeasance.

The audit report had revealed several sordid deals at KWIRS under Awodun whose tenure has come under scrutinies.

27/10/2022

*World Bank Report: Kwara waved bye to PDP, poverty in 2019 -- Gov's aide*

Ibraheem Abdullateef, Special assistant to Kwara governor on communication, says the people of the state will reelect governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq in the 2023 gubernatorial polls as the best candidate to move Kwara forward.

The statement was a reaction to the World Bank State-by-State Poverty Index 2022 which showed the poverty index of the state dropped to 20. 4%--- from 30.2% in 2019.

In a series of tweets on Tuesday, Abdullateef said the major opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) did little to support trading and enterprise in the state, leading to a high unemployment rate and poverty among the people.

“HE isn’t seeking reelection as a formality, he's come out as the best man to take Kwara forward,” Abdullateef tweeted.

“In education, health, economy, social welfare & job creation, data shows he has cleaned up after PDP. It is indeed a joke when says it will ‘rescue’ Kwara.

“In 2019, basic education was grounded as they couldn't access UBEC grants for 7 years. We have now cleaned their mess and are fixing over 600 schools as well as recruited 4,701 teachers, to ensure quality education. For the first time, Kwara won the presidential debate in 2021.

“With renewed collaborations with sister agencies & donor bodies, we have invested heavily in providing quality healthcare services to the people. Consequently, attendance in primary health care has risen by 597.2%, from a record low of 43,936 in 2019 to 306,238 in 2022.

“On economy, data from KWACCIMA shows the number of active manufacturing companies has moved from 41 in 2019 to 77. Kwara was also one of the 15 States in Nigeria to attract FDI in 2021.

“From 19th in 2019, Kwara has moved to 8th in the Fiscal sustainability rating in Nigeria.

“With over 100,000 combined beneficiaries across the 16 LGAs captured under our safety net programmes, KWASSIP, among other things, Kwara poverty index recently dropped to 20.4, according to the World Bank State-by-State Poverty Index 2022. It was 30.2% in 2019.”

Abdullateef added that the governor has improved the economy and reduced inequality, noting that the people especially civil servants and young people are backing him for reelection for the state to continue on the path of development.

“On job and wealth creation, at least 79,437 direct and indirect jobs were created in the last three years. According to NBS latest report, the unemployment rate in Kwara has dropped from 21.1% in 2019 to 16. 5 %, below the national average.

“PDP killed trade & enterprise in Kwara.

“Governor has justified the mandate Kwara gave him in 2019, making the state freer, stronger, and inclusive for all. It is laughable how PDP says they want to ‘rescue’ people from obvious progress and development. No, Kwarans don’t want to return to poverty.

“Neither civil servants nor the women or the young people want that party, that put them backwards among their peers nationwide, back in power. If they don’t understand now, it’s ignorance or sheer truthiness, such that speaks to a weak understanding of the values of the people.

“The project is a resolution of the people to push Kwara further away from the leprous hands of the PDP— safely on the path of development under for another four years. The people will allow no one to stand in the way. We are going forward together.”