Adeleke Solomon
It is obvious that the Abubakar Bukola Saraki political organisation, otherwise known as ABS, is feeling the heat of the storm of opposition in Kwara State ahead the general elections.
An encounter with the Media and Publicity Director of ABS, Mallam Abdulahi Oganija and other supporters recently, clearly revealed that there is the fear of the unknown, a clear departure from what obtained in recent past.
Oganija during an interaction with The Nigerian Xpress betrayed the fear of the unknown for which the Sarakis are never known. The tone of his reaction was defensive and more or less like a plea to Kwarans to remember what the Saraki family had done for the state and, therefore, tread with caution. The constant refrains on the lips of the supporters of the dynasty is that the All Progressives Congress, APC, will hand over the key to the Government House and the treasury of the state to Lagos if it wins the 2019 governorship election.
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This was unlike the recent past when the political structures of the Sarakis were generally believed to be deeply entrenched and formidable with networks of foot soldiers in all the nooks and crannies of the state.
The political dynasty that looked solidly invincible in the recent past apparently looks very troubled with the prevailing atmosphere of disillusionment. But Bukola, who is the scion of the Saraki dynasty and the inheritor of its political machinery, has been described as a dogged fighter and strategist. This much was disclosed to The Nigerian Xpress by Alhaji Oganija.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has done incalculable damage to Saraki’s image in the state with the rotten condition the State of Harmony is in today. There is acute shortage of water in Ilorin, the state capital as a result of which residents often trek miles in search of water. The situation is even worse in the rural areas, making the residents of the areas rely on water from streams and rivers with the attendant risk of water borne diseases.
The administration of Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed claimed to have spent over N6 billion on the Ilorin Water Reticulation Project with about 48,000 households reportedly getting water supply. This, however, has caused a controversy in the state, as tax payers rejected the claims of the state government on the Ilorin water project. As at the time of filing this report, many residents of the state capital could not get water supply.
What is worrisome is that government-owned revenue mobilisation agency, Kwara State Revenue Service, keeps on taxing residents for water rate with the people not getting value for their money.
The state of the Ilorin environment is an eyesore with refuse dumps, growing in every corner of the ancient city. With the population explosion staring the city in the face, the waste explosion, which has overwhelmed the state Environmental Protection Agency, is an invitation to disease outbreak. Only recently, the state Ministry of Health announced at a press conference the breakout of Lassa fever, yellow fever and polio.
However, a timely response of the state government nipped them in the bud. This, of course, is an eloquent testimony that the problems of water shortage and dirty environment make the State of Harmony vulnerable to epidemic breakout.
Many public schools in Kwara are in bad shapewith pupils, learning in non-conducive environment. One indication of a serious rot in public schools in the state is the phenomenal growth of private schools.
There is a growing resentment against the leadership of Senator Bukola Saraki and Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed among the members of the middle class on account of this. The children of the middle class attend private schools, while the sons and daughters of the poor make do with dilapidated public schools with its attendant result on the state of human capital in the state.
The Internal Revenue Service is another thorn in the flesh of the residents of the state. In its attempt to shore up the revenue of the state, the agency has been accused of over taxing the people without commensurate values for the money paid.
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Backlogs of salaries owed workers of local governments and the Universal Basic Education (SUBEB) is another perceived sin of the Senate president, who is believed to be in control of the government of the state with Governor Ahmed merely sitting to hold forte for him. Many families reportedly suffered on account of this. Sensing the damages this has caused his political leadership in the state, Saraki single handedly paid one month salary of the workers of Ifelodun Local Government, promising to replicate same in the remaining 15 local governments. The Senate president spent over N16 million to settle this. He also paid the salaries of some traditional title holders in Ilorin Emirate owed by the Ilorin West Local Government.
Other sources of Saraki’s problems are how he governed the state between 2003 and 2011 with many questions being asked as to who owns Shonga Farm.
Governor Ahmed was a commissioner for finance under Saraki between 2003 and 2007 and commissioner for planning and economic development between 2007 and 2011. He was, therefore, a prominent member of the Saraki inner cabinet. This is beside the fact that he is equally being called upon to account for his own stewardship.
One of the prominent critics of Saraki’s style of leadership, Mr. Femi Yusuf, alleged in an interview with The Nigerian Xpress that what the dynasty is adept at is politics, while deficient in governance and development.
He cited the emergence of the Balogun Ishola Fulani and Abdulwahab Kayode Omotose, as the authentic faction of APC, recognised by the court of law as example of Saraki’s Machiavelli’s style of politics.
The Balogun Fulani faction is claiming the ownership of APC in the state against the Bashir Bolarinwa’s faction recognised by the National Executive Council of the party.
He described this as game of subterfuge by Saraki to confuse voters in the state, having sensed that his party may lose in the 2019 elections.
Oganija, however, countered that the growing anti-Saraki sentiment in the state was fuelled by envy. He claimed that 90 per cent of the people in the opposition, criticising Saraki today had been with the Senate president or his father at one time or another and benefited from the system.
He claimed further that Saraki’s leadership was divinely ordained; adding anybody challenging it was challenging God.
“The Saraki dynasty people talk about is not about Saraki as a single person but it is an institution with networks of beneficiaries being protected by the system. It cuts across ethnic and religious groups. The traditional institutions fate is intertwined with it, likewise that of elite, both middle class and the aristocrats, including the poor. So, if you are fighting a single person, you are fighting many people,” he said.
According to him, Saraki is the only asset Kwara State has at the top, noting that his occupation of the office of the Senate president has drawn opportunities to the state. He warned that if Saraki falls, Kwara will pay dearly for it.
Realising that the state government is overwhelmed, Saraki has made personal interventions in the state. He personally financed six federal roads projects, which included Kaiama- Kishi road, Michael Imodu-Ganmo-Amoyo dual carriageway road, Patigi-Kpada road, Jebba-Mokwa road, Offa-Erin-Ile road and Afon-Aboto-Odo-Ode-Oyo State boundary road.
His constituency road projects in the Central Senatorial District included Asunkere-Ode Okubi road, Ajikobi Ward, flood and erosion control projects, street light projects, electrification projects, surface water and dam rehabilitation projects, construction of blocks of classrooms, among others.
Saraki also entered into a pact with the leadership of Kwara North that the governorship will be their turn in 2023 if they vote for PDP in 2019. This move was to pacify the people of the area, who have vowed to pay him back in his own coin by massively voting against his party and candidates for years of disappointment they suffered from the dynasty despite being loyal to it.
Kwara North was to produce the governorship candidate for this year’s election before the permutations changed due to growing opposition against Saraki’s leadership in the state and particularly in Ilorin, his home base.
Whether Saraki will successfully stave off the growing opposition against the dynasty and retain Kwara in 2019 cannot be precisely and accurately predicted, as many factors yet to play out, are going to emerge to determine the outcome of the battle.
