Since Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq assumed office on May 29,2019 as the ninth elected executive governor of Kwara state,he hasn’t stopped visiting key, strategic and sensitive places, mostly unscheduled to ascertain their present conditions in order to know how best to solve their myriad of problems and move the state of harmony forward.
But interestingly, between then and now,the discoveries of Governor Abdulrazaq to say the least have been so appalling,revealing the accumulated rots within the system over the years.
The governor had during the week said his first priority was to get things back to normal and restore confidence in the state, such as fixing bad roads, getting water running and getting moribund institutions back to work.
AbdulRazaq said this Monday night when he visited the Kwara State College of Education (Technical) Lafiagi where he assured workers who have long been on strike that they would be paid as soon as possible.
He had earlier visited Bacita, a town in Kwara North that once housed Nigeria’s biggest sugar factory, where he said that discussions were ongoing with investors to revive the industry with domino effects on employment and wealth creation.
The governor also visited the Lafiagi General Hospital where he bemoaned the lack of basic amenities like water supply, electricity and refrigeration for medical supplies like anti-snake bite serum.
He,however, commended the Federal Ministry of Health for its interventionist programmes such as free malaria drugs.
On Tuesday, AbdulRazaq visited the Duku Lade Irrigation Scheme in Patigi local government area of the state as part of efforts to ensure all-year farming.
The governor had since embarked on extensive tours of facilities across the state, especially water works, hospitals, schools and the comatose state media houses that have stopped working.
Hundreds of millions of naira invested in the state media industries like Herald newspapers , Midland FM, Radio Kwara and Kwara TV by the immediate past government did not improve their conditions.
The sad development triggered anger from journalists who protested their poor working conditions in the twilight of the last administration before Governor Abdulrazaq came to their rescue.
The ongoing tours of Governor Abdulrazaq have led to release of funds for quick measures that have seen water running in some parts of the state, and road rehabilitation among others.
"Things are not just bad here. I have seen your hospital and your water works. They are in a bad state. But that is the way things are all over the state. What we are trying to do is to get things gradually working the way they used to be," AbdulRazaq told workers of the College of Education.
"Now, how does that affect you here? We will get you back to work. We will clear whatever have to be cleared. But as I said, it is a difficult task. I will give you an example. There's no money but we will manage our resources. For May, we received N3.2bn and salary alone gulped N2.2bn. So only one billion is left to run institutions like this and fix hospitals and water works. We just have to manage our resources...and put the little resources in the right place."
He said the administration would later embark on capital projects that would transform the state.
"We have big developmental projects to do. But our priority right now is to stabilise things and bring things back to normal. We'll get everyone back to work first. Then after that, we will now look at major projects, getting you the necessary tools and restoring the glory of this place and our state," according to him.
"This place is going to be the centre of Sugar production. We will make sure you get your tools....This will not happen overnight like that but things will definitely start working gradually."
The icing on the cake for Governor Abdulrazaq this week was the breathing space given him by the Kwara state High Court wherein the judge affirmed the claimants withdrawal from the alleged secondary school certificate scandal filed against him and the fresh claimant which were all consigned to the dustbin of history.
The Kwara State High Court sitting in Ilorin on Wednesday had dismissed the certificate forgery case filed against him after the claimant personally appeared in court and insisted he was withdrawing the case.
But the N1M fine requested by the defendants counsel Barrister Salman Jawondo meant to be a punitive measure and served as deterrent for people who wanted to explore the court to embarrass personalities was rejected by the court because it was not properly filed.
The Claimant counsel Barrister Olaolu Lawrence also expressed shock that his client had been hobnobbing with the opposition in this case,saying however that he could not cry more than the bereaved.
Justice Adenike Akinpelu struck out the case after Adekunle Oluwafemi Abraham, a member of the PDP who had filed the case, told the court he had indeed presented a notice of withdrawal of the matter.
Justice Akinpelu said the withdrawal meant that the efforts of one Olusola Olaseinde who wanted to join the suit were inconsequential since the original case had been withdrawn.
The defence counsel Barrister Salman Jawondo, speaking with journalists after the court proceedings said,"The claimant who filed a notice sometime in February said he's no longer interested in the case. So, ordinarily the case ought to be struck out at the last sitting of the court.
"But surprisingly somebody from somewhere filed another motion that he wanted to be joined as co claimant to the case. That notice was filed on 22 May and when the court wanted to sit formerly on the case we were served in the evening. We looked through the motion, it bore the date before the swearing in of the governor so we became suspicious.
'We made our preliminary investigations and found out that the receipt was not issued from this court and we reported the matter to the police and the lawyer was arrested.
"But based on the notice of discontinuance by the claimant, like the court said, there is a disconnect between the claimant and the lawyer because he filed the notice personally, gave the court copies and served his lawyers. By professional ethics, when a client does that to his lawyer it shows lack of confidence.
"The lawyer is not supposed to come and represent him again but I'm surprised that the lawyer is in the court claiming to represent him, no client can do that to me.
"Its professionally unethical because when he contacted his client he maintained that he filed the discountinuance. The court has no choice than to strike out the case " He said.
Speaking on N1M cost requested from the court but was not granted,Barrister Jawondo said,"You don't turn court to where you are seeking publicity and embarrass individuals. The cost was to serve as deterrent. It was not granted.
But the claimant counsel Barrister Olaolu Lawrence, explaining his dilemma to journalists said, "actually, the claimant came to court and the court ordered that I should meet him based on his notice to discontinue the case personally.
Abdulrazaq had repeatedly said the case was politically motivated and meant to stop him from contesting the March 9 governorship poll, adding that the claimant was acting out a script from his political adversary.
The Governor had won several court cases filed by a faction of the All Progressives...
