Newscenter Media News In Kwara State, a political storm is brewing. As Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq reshuffled his cabinet and swore in two new commissioners on Monday, his call for teamwork and collaboration in governance was meant to inspire.
Instead, it sparked fierce criticism from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which accused the governor of sidelining his own team and running an administration that is anything but inclusive.
“In leadership, and especially in public service, the strength of any administration lies in the power of teamwork,” the governor said, his words ringing out at the State House. “Our mission is to collaborate, combining our strengths and ideas to leave Kwara far better than we met it.”
But for many in the state and certainly for the PDP, those words felt hollow.
Olusegun Adewara, the PDP’s Publicity Secretary in Kwara, didn’t mince words in his response via a press release on Monday.
“Governor AbdulRazaq is running a solo government where he acts as the permanent secretary for all ministries,” Adewara said, his frustration clear. “How can he speak of collaboration when his commissioners are mere figureheads?”
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According to Adewara, since AbdulRazaq assumed office in 2019, the governor has rarely convened State Executive Council (SEC) meetings; the forum where policies should be debated and decisions made collectively. When meetings do happen, he alleged, they amount to little more than rubber-stamping sessions.
“The few SEC meetings held were nothing but formalities,” Adewara said. “Decisions made in the governor’s bedroom often drafted and passed through WhatsApp messages are sheepishly ratified. No commissioner in this administration can confidently say they have meaningful input in governance.”
Beyond accusations of autocracy, the PDP painted a picture of a government increasingly detached from the struggles of everyday Kwarans. AbdulRazaq’s boasts of progress in education, healthcare, infrastructure, and social protection, the opposition argued, simply don’t match the lived experience of the people.
“Governor AbdulRazaq talks about spending billions on various sectors, but the incompetence of his cabinet has led to the mismanagement of those funds,” Adewara claimed. “Take healthcare, for example. In the last budget presentation, the governor read out fabricated performance data to the House of Assembly, and no one, not the lawmakers, not his commissioners, dared to correct him.”
It was only after the PDP raised objections, he said, that the government admitted its errors.
Despite reported investments of over N9.2 billion in healthcare between 2019 and 2023, Kwara State was ranked the third worst-performing state in primary healthcare by data firm Statisense. “What does that say about the so-called progress?” Adewara asked.
The PDP’s critique extended beyond healthcare. Adewara pointed to alleged corruption in the state’s energy sector, highlighting an unfulfilled contract for transformer supplies as a symbol of the administration’s failures.
Even the governor’s much-touted social investment programs, intended to lift people out of poverty, have fallen short, the opposition argued.
“The governor claims to be spending huge sums on social programs, yet Kwara’s poverty rate has skyrocketed from 17% in 2019 to about 48% today,” Adewara said. “If his policies are effective, why are people suffering more?”
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