Date: 2014-08-31

It will interest Kwarans that Harmony Holdings Limited designed and conceptualized by Senator Bukola Saraki and eventually established by Governor AbdulFatah Ahmed, was handed over to Temitope Adesunloye Daramola to administer as Chief Executive Officer. The same Tope Daramola that Kwarans rallied against as Director General, The Bureau of Lands, Kwara state. The same Tope Daramola that was an alleged accomplice of Bukola Saraki in the Intercontinental Bank loan scandal.

Other members of the board include Professor Halidu Ibrahim Abubakar who serves as the Chairman. The rest of the board are other Bukola Saraki's cronies and allies. Mr. Adebayo Sanni, Ladi Hassan, Ibraheem Yinka Yahaya, and Hamzat Balogun.

It is noteworthy to point out that the Ilorin Emirate Descendants Progressive Union in 2012 launched a fierce battle to have the present GMD/CEO of Harmony Holdings Limited, Tope Daramola removed as Director General, Bureau of Lands only for Bukola Saraki to elevate him to the position of Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Harmony Holdings Limited, a holding company whose subsidiary includes the Bureau of Lands. Welcome to Bukola's Kwara; where impunity is the norm.

Now, two years after its establishment, Tope Daramola and crew have declared a profit of 308 million Naira on an investment spanning 21 subsidiaries. Some of these subsidiaries includes; Kwara Advanced Diagnostic Centre, now Harmony Advanced Diagnostic Centre, Kwara Transport Corporation – owners of Kwara Express – Kwara Football Academy, Kwara Hotels Limited, Kwara Ethnix Furniture company, Kwara Mall Development Company, Shonga Farms Holding Limited, Kwara Insurance Brokers Limited, Kwara Investment & Property Development Company, Harmony Securities Limited, Aviation College, etc.

The question that begs for an answer is: How can a holding company with twenty one (21) subsidiary companies declare a profit of a paltry 308 million naira? The bureau of lands alone can comfortably churn out a profit in excess of 500 million Naira annually. And the bureau is just one out of the 21 companies. You also have the three star Kwara Hotels Limited and the nationally acclaimed Harmony Advanced Diagnostic Centre in the mix and yet you declare a profit of 308 million for 21 companies? Have you no shame?

The primary reason advanced by Gov. AbdulFatah Ahmed in establishing Harmony Holdings Limited was to increase innovation and boost competition amongst state owned enterprises. Now, where is the innovation? Where is the value addition?

For starters, to place the bureau of lands under a holding company is not only an aberration but it is equally fraudulent. Where else would you encounter this nefarious decision other than Kwara?

We at the Kwara Restoration Project are demanding answers from Harmony Holdings Limited and the Kwara state government.

We demand that Harmony Holdings Limited's 2012 and 2013 financial details be published within seven days from today to afford all Kwarans the opportunity to see how their commonwealth is being managed.

We also demand full disclosure on Harmony Holdings Limited's debt profile, liabilities and its current investments if any.

If Harmony Holdings Limited and by extension the Kwara state government fails to heed this commonsense requests, the Kwara Restoration Project will employ all legal means to bring the management of Harmony Holdings Limited and the Kwara state government to justice.

Abdullahi Imam Abdullahi, PhD, writes from Ilorin