Stop attacking Saraki, Kwara PDP warns APC ‘factional’ guber candidate

The Kwara State chapter of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has cautioned a factional governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, against attacking the personality of the President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki.

The PDP asked AbdulRazaq to make his campaign issue-based instead of engaging in campaign of calumny against Saraki.

The party dismissed as false, baseless and misleading, the claims by AbdulRazaq that Saraki and his successor, Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed, have failed to develop Kwara and invest in its people.

“From 2003 when Bukola Saraki became the governor of Kwara State up till this present administration of Governor Ahmed, Kwara has witnessed significant growth and development across all sectors.

“The successive administrations of Dr. Saraki and Governor Ahmed have also invested heavily in the people of the state through their various projects and programmes in different sectors, ranging from education, health, roads, and rural and urban development,” it said.

Listing some of the achievements, the PDP said: “For the record, the administration of Bukola Saraki established the Kwara State University (KWASU), the International Aviation College, Ilorin, the Harmony Advanced Diagnostic Centre, Kwara Football Academy, remodelling of the Ilorin Township Stadium, Upgrading of Asa Dam Waterworks and phase one of Ilorin Water reticulation Project, and implementation of Urban and Rural Electrification, which saw the setting up of the Ganmo Power Generation Plant and hundreds of ordinary power substations.

“Additionally, his government embarked on construction and rehabilitation of roads across the 16 local government areas of the state, which included the rural and feeder road project, Ilorin Metropolitan Street Lights Projects, provision of low-cost housing estates and the Kwara Mall Project.”

It also noted that, “As a leader committed to the well-being of his people, Bukola Saraki introduced the first state health insurance programme in Nigeria known as the Kwara Community Health Insurance Scheme (CHIS) to provide affordable and accessible healthcare services to poor people in rural communities of the state. The scheme allowed beneficiaries to access primary quality healthcare services all year round for a premium of N500.

“Owing to its impacts on the people of Kwara State, the scheme received multiple awards from international organisations, including the United Nations and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The scheme was recently upgraded to a state-wide health insurance scheme by Governor Ahmed to allow all categories of Kwarans and residents of the state benefit from it.”

According to the PDP, “It is also noteworthy to add that the Saraki administration initiated the ‘Every Child Counts’ education policy, which has now been adopted by the Federal Government as a result of its positive impacts.

“Governor Ahmed who came on board in 2011 has consolidated on the achievements of his predecessor through the various programmes and developmental projects he has initiated in the past seven years. Some of these projects are the International Vocational, Technical and Entrepreneurship College, Ajase-Ipo, remodeling of five general hospitals into state-of-the-art facilities, ultramodern KWASU Engineering complex, 1000-unit Maigida Housing Estate in Ilorin rural and urban road projects as well as people-oriented programmes such as the SME micro-credit scheme that has benefited more 50, 000 small and medium scale businesses across the state.”

It further stated that among many other projects, the present administration is also “undertaking various ongoing projects across the state which include the two satellite campuses of KWASU in Osi and Ilesha-Baruba, KWASU Post-Graduate School in Ilorin, Geri-Alimi Diamond Underpass, dualisation of Sango-UITH-OkeOse road and ultramodern secretariat for civil servants.”

“Clearly, the above listed projects and programmes implemented by the successive governments of BukolaSaraki and Governor Ahmed have multiplier effects on the development of Kwara State and welfare of the people as they expanded access to higher education, improved healthcare delivery, created jobs for the people, and have ultimately developed the state,” the party also said.