By Tope Musbau
There is heightened tension in the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kwara State, resulting from the feeling of foreboding failure, frustrations and despair.
While, many other States of the federation that are at the centre of governance are busy counting their gains and beating their chest believing that they will have a landslide victory in the forthcoming 2027 general elections, and indeed any other election, party men and women of the APC family in Kwara State are hiding their faces in shame and despondency because the state governor, Gov AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has performed abysmally poor, and seems unredeemable, because he has earned for himself the unenviable reputation of a serial failure in Kwara state, even after spending seven solid years with nothing to show for it.
Lean years of total governance failure, characterized by ineptitude and inability of his government to perform its basic functions, leading to a collapse of the rule of law, economy, and social services.
Little wonder then at the level of insecurity and the widespread criminal activities, and general avoidable violence witnessed in the state.
For those seven years, the governor has failed to provide essential services such as healthcare, education, sanitation, and infrastructure, resulting in dire living conditions for citizen, choosing rather to mismanage the economy, leading to localized hyperinflation, unemployment, poverty, and a significant decline in the standard of living, occasioned basically by widespread corruption, cronyism, and nepotism, eroding public trust in government institutions.
Unfortunately, inspite all entreaties from well-meanining individuals and party men, Governor AbdulRazaq has consistently remained adamant, unfazed, and unwilling to hold public officials accountable for their actions, as he himself is culpable, leading to impunity and further governance decay.
A system of state sponsored repression pervades, limiting citizen's right, occasioning outrage, and loss of public trust and confidence in his government.
Obviously, Governor AbdulRahman, has woefully failed to deliver on campaign promises, but has instead replaced them with excuses, poor performance in office, and perceived corruption thereby eroding the trust of the electorates.
His lack of clear or convincing policy direction has led to voter disillusionment, while the lack of people based leadership is generating internal conflicts, and disconnect between party leaders and the electorate, undermining the party's appeal, leading to inadequate messaging, ineffective use of media, and poor voter engagement affecting grassroots mobilization and support.
It is becoming clearer by the day, that a strong, well-organized, and effective opposition can capitalize on the incumbent governor's weaknesses and sway voters.
Unfortunately, Governor AbdulRazaq is unlike most of the other Governors, much money has been coming into the cofers of the state government, both from the federation account and the state internally generated revenue.
For instance, in the past two years, Kwara State disbursement from the federation account has been consistently above 110 Billion Naira, which has grown from N42.87 billion in 2022 coupled with a huge about 5.7 Billion monthly IGR, giving no room for his excuses and terrible failures.
Governor AbdulRahman has been in office since 2019 and has failed to implement various initiatives aimed at improving the state's economy, infrastructure, and social services.
His failure to invest in revenue-generating infrastructure, promote efficient tourism and agriculture, and provide job opportunities for the youths has greatly undermined the security of the state, dwarfing its growth and sustainable development, making Kwara State perpetually a state historically heavily reliant on federal allocations.
An ineptitude Incarnate and corruption Connoisseur, Governor AbdulRazaq's visionless leadership of over seven has done kwara state much damage and fostered evil, erasing all past gains and driving it back to the coldroom of regression.
A resolute accountability avoider, and master of evasion, Governor AbdulRahman's inability to inspire development has become a significant threat to the survival of the APC in Kwara state, especially when the state's current situation is compared with the past or with neighboring states who are not collecting such huge amount from the federation disbursement.
His inability to inspire development in the last seven years has indeed become a clear threat to the survival of the APC.
It is certain that the state may reject the APC if AbdulRahman is seen to be backing any candidate.
Here lies the urgent and crucial imperative and a patriotic call for an independent and neutral progressive minded person to step forward to lead, and as well rescue the APC and align it with the performing strides of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the centre.
A stitch in time, saves nine!
Musbau wrote this piece from Tanke, Ilorin.
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