Kwara State government can’t destroy my father’s legacies, says Saraki on revocation of land

Bukola Saraki, former senate president, says the main objective of Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, governor of Kwara state, is to wage war against his family.

Saraki said this on Saturday while reacting to the governor’s decision to revoke a land occupied by his family in Ilorin, the state capital.

In a statement on Friday, Rafiu Ajakaiye, chief press secretary to the governor, had said the land was originally meant for government secretariat and parking space of a clinic, but was unlawfully allocated to one of Saraki’s late father’s private firms without any record of payment to the state government.

But in a statement he personally signed, Saraki who once governed the state, said contrary to Ajakaiye’s claim,  the land was duly allocated and a Right of Occupancy title issued on it.

“It should be noted that the excuse given by Abdulrazaq in his revocation order holds no water since it is clear that this is the height of his vengeance against my father, Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki and I,” Saraki said.

“This action is clearly a manifestation of vengeance … in his narrow-mindedness, he believes his victory at the polls is an empowerment, entitlement and enablement to settle scores, provoke and pursue inter-family rivalry. They expected development and fulfilment of promises.”

He added that rather than focusing on governance of the state, the governor had waged “a war of attrition” against the legacy of his father and everything that belongs to the late politician, including moving to rename a university named after him.

“Seven months down the line, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq has shown that its cardinal Programme is to wage war against my late father and I. He has demonstrated that his only competence and astuteness is in the area of viciously assailing the late Oloye Saraki and I. Definitely, he is a man with no sense of history. Enough is enough. Now, he has crossed the line,” the statement read.

“Perhaps, I should let it be known that if Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq thinks he is taking all these actions to get at me, he is only deceiving himself. There is no basis for competition between us. Our paths cannot cross because the status that he is struggling to attain, Almighty Allah has given it to me many years before now.”

The former senate president said he will will contest revocation done by a “parochial, vicious and vindictive administration” through all legal means, and asked the governor to devote his time and energy to providing good governance.

“With all his subterranean and open moves against my family, person and property, I remain unmoved,” he said.

“However, his open antagonism against my late father and his legacies is unwarranted and will not be tolerated. He has definitely gone beyond bounds as he cannot be allowed to ride roughshod on the deceased. In this war against my late father, he will not win.”

In his lifetime, Saraki’s father was referred to as the strongman of Kwara politics.