FORMER Vice Chancellor, University of Ilorin, Professor Shuaib Oba Abdulraheem, has described Joint Account System (JAS), an economic parley between the state government and respective local councils within the state as a fraudulent practice aimed at looting the public treasury.

Abdulraheem, the immediate past chairman of Federal Character Commission (FCC) said, unless the syndicate behind the JAS was smashed, development at the councils level would be cumbersome.

The don, at present, a governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara State, canvassed due observance of separation of roles of the two tiers of government towards churning out true dividends of democracy to the people at the grassroots.

Speaking with reporters Monday in Ilorin, the PDP chieftain said, "JAS is the first step to steal. I think the state government should just contend itself with the supervisory role to the Local Government Area (LGAs). Let everybody be separately accountable for what it does. I think that is what the law of the land says."

The aspirant who explained his grouse with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state by refusing to decamp to the party despite starting his political career with the Saraki political dynasty said true democratic essence was allegedly lacking in the party.

Besides, he said the disagreement arose out of sharp disparity of ideas in how governance should be administered to the people of the state.

He added, "as the chairman of the Transition Committee that ushered in the government in the state, I knew the promise I made to the people and I am shocked at what was eventually done for the people."

According to him, "nobody in his right senses would say there is nothing good in late Olusola Saraki. He came and had contributed his own quota to the development of our state. But he never referred to himself as anything. But due to this humility, his people started calling him leader. But some people have since turned it into hereditary thing.

"Saraki was a symbol of philanthropy, love and progressive ideals. All these attributes endeared him to me and many other people. But today, some people have turned it into hero-worshipping thing. I had been PDP person all the way, but those who left felt they could no longer tolerate us."

On the reason for him resigning his appointment as the FCC boss to have a shot at the governorship of the state, Abdulraheem said he wanted to come and rectify some rot in the socio-political and economic system of the state.

"The rot in my state is what I want to correct. Good men of conscience can't afford to close their eyes to them. We have systematic corruption going on here. Bad government is what is expensive, not good government. We need the true government of the people."

He bemoaned alleged corrupt practices in some states of the federation, attributing the development to egotism, just as he said the vice could not be divorced from allegations of an alleged slash by "some fellows" in the resources that come into some states.

If elected the governor of the state he promised to block alleged existing conduit pipes and make youth employment his top priority. For him, when basic infrastructure is fixed, there would be a retroactive effect in small-scale businesses in the state.