Kwara PDP Slams Governor AbdulRazaq Over Saraki’s Project Cancellation, Alleges Political Vendetta
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara State has harshly condemned Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq for dismantling the Kwara State Community and Social Development Agency (KWASCDA), a World Bank-assisted programme started by previous Governor Bukola Saraki.
The governor’s decision to exclude KWASCDA from the impending NG-CARES program, a Federal Government and World Bank intervention meant to address infrastructure shortages in rural communities, was denounced by the PDP in a sharply worded statement issued on Tuesday.
According to the PDP’s Publicity Secretary, Olusegun Adewara, the withdrawal of KWASCDA from the scheme was done without any public explanation or rationale, despite the agency’s success in other states.
“This noble project will continue to benefit rural communities in other 35 Nigerian states, but Kwara State stands as an unfortunate outlier due to the governor’s self-serving political decisions,” the party said in astonishment.
For what it called a “severe disservice” to hundreds of rural communities that had depended on KWASCDA for vital infrastructure, such as boreholes, classrooms, electrical transformers, and sanitation projects, the PDP blasted the governor.
These initiatives, according to the PDP, have considerably improved the quality of life for many inhabitants in Kwara.
Additionally, the PDP reminded that KWASCDA was founded in 2009 under the direction of former Governor Bukola Saraki, who was succeeded by Abdulfatah Ahmed.
The party claimed that KWASCDA’s termination was politically motivated and that it had an impact on towns that had previously applied to the agency for 2024 infrastructure projects.
“A government that has prioritized political vendetta over governance has now abandoned these communities, which had expected the construction and renovation of schools, health centers, community halls, water supply systems, and electricity transformers,” the statement said.
The PDP further asserted that some state government officials, together with some KWASCDA members, planned the agency’s dissolution because of its ties to the Saraki-led government.
Read Also: NAFDAC Explains Reopening of Onitsha Drug Market
By pointing out the agency’s success in obtaining World Bank funds, which the PDP said prohibited some officials from exercising control over project costs and contractor selection, the party accused the AbdulRazaq administration of putting political considerations ahead of the welfare of the populace.
“The socioeconomic divide in Kwara State is being further widened by his administration’s incompetence, insensitivity, and misguided priorities, condemning the majority of Kwarans to perpetual hardship,” the PDP claimed.
The PDP has responded to these developments by calling for the decision to be immediately reversed, calling it “anti-people” and “ill-conceived.”
In order to guarantee that Kwara’s rural areas do not lose out on vital development possibilities, the party further called on the World Bank, the Federal Government, and civil society organizations to look into the situation.
“Kwara State belongs to everyone, and as a political party, we will not tolerate it when a small number of persons in power sabotage the advancement of our people as a whole.
The statement ended, “The rural people of Kwara deserve better than a government that abandons them to insecurity, water scarcity, darkness, and dilapidated schools.”
