Kwara leaders don’t care about people’s welfare – PDP Publicity Secretary

The Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party in Kwara State, Olusegun Adewara, speaks to TUNDE OYEKOLA, about the controversy surrounding the rice palliative purportedly given to members of the National Assembly by the Federal Government to be distributed to their constituents, among other issues

Following the removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal Government, various measures have been taken, including the distribution of food palliative to the people of Kwara State. Do you think that these palliatives have cushioned the effect of subsidy removal on the people?

The palliative was not distributed to the people of the state but to some selected members of the APC who are in the good books of the governor. The people are still battling with inflated prices of food and other domestic commodities due to the fuel subsidy. Kwara State is listed as one of the Nigerian states where inflation is surging prices of foodstuff and living standards are on the decline. So, in essence, there’s no effect of any palliative in the state as the people of Kwara State are not even aware of such aside APC members that are being considered for everything.

 What is your opinion on the palliative or wage awards given to the workers in the state by the Kwara State Government?

 The Kwara State Government is not sincere with the palliative awards to workers in the state. While it announced that every worker would be getting N10,000 monthly as a palliative award, the government suddenly stopped the payment and when the opposition raised their voices, they restored to a few fractions of workers while the scheme was discontinued among the majority of workers. The local government workers and the SUBEB teachers and staff, pensioners and retirees are no longer getting the palliative.

 Recently, there was a report that the Federal Government approved some trailer loads of rice palliative to the elected federal legislators to be distributed to people in their respective constituencies. Do you think this information is true and the item has been given to the people of the state?

 The information is true because there was a viral video featuring one Honourable Dekeri Anamero, House of Representative member representing Etsako Federal Constituency of Edo State, confirming receipt of the said rice. The FG also released a statement confirming that it had released the rice palliative through each member of the National Assembly. So, this is not a rumour but a fact. So far, we have not seen the rice palliative being distributed in any part of Kwara State from the nine legislators representing the people of the state.

 The nine legislators elected in the state on the platform of the APC denied receiving the trailer loads of rice to be distributed to their constituencies. What is your take on this?

 Unfortunately, a few days after they claimed they had not received this rice, one of them from the northern part of Kwara State showcased the rice he distributed to his constituents and tagged it ‘FG Rice’. So, who’s deceiving who? Kwara people can no longer trust these people as they have repeatedly betrayed the people’s confidence.  In 2020, there was a mob ransack of a cargo terminal at the Ilorin airport where food palliatives meant for the people during COVID-19 were kept by the government. The people felt those foodstuffs were supposed to have been distributed to people during the lockdown, but only the government can tell us why they decided to hoard them away from the people. In this case, we ask why those lawmakers refused to talk before the PDP accused them. It is a matter of the more you look, the less you see.

 What is your suggestion on how the federal and state governments should handle the issue of palliative distribution to the people of the state?

 The state and federal governments know the best way to reach out to people, but the current leaders we have in Kwara State do not care about the masses’ welfare. Ask them how they reached out to people when they needed their votes. How did they distribute humongous money for vote-buying that even shoemakers got a share of their money? So, they understand but they don’t have the mind to be accountable or be of service to anybody.

 You recently criticised the award of three major contracts to a single company. What is wrong with this and what is the way forward?

 Yes, the construction company was brought by the governor and imposed on the State Executive Council during their last stage-managed meetings where no commissioner was allowed to talk during the meetings. How can a recently discovered company be entrusted with such humongous contracts if there’s no element of shady dealings? Why didn’t the government start all their projects with Craneburg if truly it’s about competence and capacity? How the company was engaged left many questions unanswered.

 We make bold to say that this action where a single company that has not undertaken any project in the state before will come from the moon and secure all the construction contracts from the Kwara State Government is alien to rationality. Does it mean that there are no other construction companies that possess the required capacity to undertake those projects all over the country?

How did you perceive Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq’s performance in the six months of his second term?

 Governor Abdulrazaq’s performance has been abysmal and disappointing, with the huge financial inflow which is unprecedented since he came on board, one expects that Kwara State should be a construction site for sustainable projects that will impact the lives of our people, but I put it to you that despite all these billions coming in form of FAAC and IGR every month, Governor AbdulRazaq has not cut the tape in any part of Kwara State to inaugurate any reasonable project for our people.