The Kwara State government, on Wednesday, restated its readiness to conduct local government elections in the state.
This clarification followed an allegation by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)-led state government planned to delay the conduct of the local government poll till 2025.
The government, in a statement signed by the special adviser on Media to the State governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, Alh. Bashir Adigun, said that, “the stage is set for local government elections and we have no doubt that like previous elections, the PDP will suffer massive defeat at the polls.”
The state PDP chairman, Hon. Babatunde Mohammed, had on Monday alleged that Governor AbdulRazaq was in connivance with the State House of Assembly tinkering with the Local Government law with the aim of delaying the conduct of the local government elections till 2025.
“We condemn in strong terms, the attempt to alter section 20 (1) of the LG Law to increase notification of the election date by KWASIEC from the existing ninety (90) days to three hundred and sixty days. If this bill is passed into law the LG elections will automatically be shifted to the year 2025.
“The PDP in Kwara state joins other stakeholders in the state to demand the immediate suspension of this anti-democratic bill which aimed at further crippling grassroots governance and subjecting their monthly allocations to the sinister control and consumption of the governor through his illegal TIC chairmen,” the PDP chairman had stated.
But, Adigun, in a statement on Wednesday, urged Kwarans not to fall for the antics of the PDP, which he noted never meant well for the state.
The governor’s media adviser added: “We observed that the party(PDP) in recent times has been trying to seek relevance after its shocking defeat in the last general elections by crying wolf where there is none.
“Like a drowned man clinging to a straw at the bank of a river, the PDP has suddenly associated itself with a judgement obtained by Non -Governmental group which is on Appeal at the Supreme Court. We admonished the PDP to consult with its lawyers on the process of appeal at the Supreme court and stop misleading the public that the state government has not filed any brief at the apex court.
“For the purpose of clarity, our exemplary Governor, Mallam AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, a law-abiding leader, has only complied with the resolution of the State House of Assembly which directed the dissolution of the local governments following the discovery of monumental corruption by chairmen hurriedly appointed into office in a sham election conducted by the PDP.
“While we sympathize with victims of different attacks by criminals in some parts of the State, the PDP should note that Kwara has been adjudged by different law enforcement agencies as one of the peaceful States in the country when compared with the magnitude of insecurity in the country, it is therefore disheartening that the PDP is linking the local government issue with pockets of crimes in the state.
“It is also absurd that the PDP which claimed that no one has seen the copy of amendment to the Local Government Bill before the House of Assembly at the same time claimed that there are plans to shift the Local Government elections to 2025. What a confusion by a rejected party!
“We restate that the stage is set for local government elections, and we have no doubt that like previous elections the PDP will suffer massive defeat at the polls
“It is laughable that the PDP claimed that former Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed launched, the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP), a World Bank Project in 2017 but failed to tell the public whether its administration ever paid counterpart funding as required by the partners.
“Kwarans will never forget the PDP for the launch and commissioning projects that never got completed by the PDP administration. Such uncompleted projects include Ilesha- Baruba Road, KWASU campuses in Ilesha- Baruba and Osi.
“The Pprojects embarked upon by the current administration are well known to the public and will be commissioned at the right time
“Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq is not known for failed promises or deception like leaders of the PDP who looted dry the public treasury before they were booted out of office in 2019.
“The People of Kwara now know the difference between plunderer of Public Treasury and man working to restore the lost glory of the state in order to improve their lives .
“We urge Kwarans not to fall for the antics of the Kwara PDP who never mean well for the State. They are suffering from withdrawal syndrome from dipping their hands in the public Till. They believe that the Public treasury is a slush fund with which they feed their greed.”