Dear Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq,
Your Excellency,
I am writing to express my concerns about the lack of transparency and accountability in your administration’s governance. Recent claims portraying your government as the epitome of transparency deserve rigorous scrutiny as the realities on the ground suggest otherwise. For the accolades, a closer examination reveals a glaring contrast between your purported transparency and the reality of your administration’s opacity.
One of the hallmarks of a transparent government is the regular open disclosure of its revenues including allocations and expenditures. This, however, isn’t the case with your government. Your administration’s failure to disclose federal allocations and expenditures raises serious questions and concerns about accountability and effective resource management. As citizens, we need this information to understand the state’s financial health and hold our leaders accountable. Without transparency in allocations, how can we (Kwarans) trust that our resources are being managed effectively?
Similarly, your refusal to disclose funds allocates.monthly to local governments from the federal government raises concerns about the potential misuse or misappropriation of funds meant for local development. The price of the 32 tractors that were unveiled recently was shrouded in secrecy, how much is a tractor purchased? How much each LG is charged for the payment? Because the information flying around is that the tractors were purchased for the Local Governments and the money has been deducted from LGs purse, I believe as an individual or as a group of people, it is not too much to ask our common patrimony is being utilized, your dual role as governor of the state and sole administrator of our local government councils, you have kept the public in the dark about the finances of the councils.
The Kwara State Internal Revenue Service (KWIRS) pledged to provide quarterly briefings on the state’s revenue generation, but there has been no disclosure of the revenue generated in the past six months. This lack of transparency undermines public trust and accountability.
Transparency in governance also entails revealing the wage bills of both the state and local governments. This information is essential for us to understand the financial commitments of your administration and evaluate what resources are available for developmental projects. Your Excellency’s refusal to disclose these wage bills raises questions about the allocation of funds and the prioritization of spending within the state.
The recent revelation by the federal government that Kwara State received a whooping N9.9 billion naira for the NG-Care program is telling. Until the federal announcement, Kwarans were unaware of this significant financial support. This incident reveals a pattern of withholding crucial financial information from the public to avoid scrutiny. It begs the question: What other funds or grants have been received by the state government in the last 5 years without public knowledge?
Your administration has been deceptive about clearing the arrears of local government chairmen, councilors, workers, and retirees. Records indicate that the democratically elected officials that Your Excellency illegally suspended between 2017 and 2020 were owed more than 200 million naira. Despite claims of having settled these debts, the affected officials have stated unequivocally that they have received no such payments. It is important that you address these outstanding debts and stop misleading the public about the status of these payments.
Furthermore, your administration’s assertions about paying local government workers’ arrears owed by the immediate past administration are equally misleading. For instance, Of the six months owed Ilorin East local government workers, only three months have been paid, covering just 50% of the outstanding debt. Also, Your administration’s claim of releasing 100 million naira monthly to clear retirees’ gratuities is false and a deliberate attempt to mislead innocent citizens. In reality, only those with connections within the government receive payments, and even then, the amounts are paltry, often as low as 250,000 naira. Reports indicate that sometimes only 20 million naira was disbursed, far short of the promised 100 million. Your administration must rectify these discrepancies and ensure transparency and fairness in the disbursement of owed funds.
Mr. Governor, why didn’t you inform Kwarans of the recent refund your administration received from the federal government? As alleged, 50 Billion naira was refunded? You also failed to disclose to Kwarans that the refund, which represented over deductions from the Excess Crude Account by the FG during past administrations of Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki and Abdulfatah Ahmed, was used to settle part of Kwara’s debt, which led to a reduction in our debt profile.
Furthermore, we request that you disclose to Kwarans the current debt profile of local governments in the state. Your administration recently claimed to have approved the sum of N1.4 billion to settle outstanding pension arrears of local government retirees, but what you failed to tell us was that the money was actually taken from the Local Government’s fund balance last month. This raises concerns about the monthly availability of such huge sums in the Local Governments’ purse and the potential for misuse.
We, therefore, want your administration to provide clarity on the current wage bill of the local governments, their monthly allocation since the removal of subsidy, and the exact amount you have used to settle Local Government retirees’ pension arrears and the source of the money. Kwarans deserve transparency and accountability on the utilization of their resources and common patrimony.
Lastly, your approach to poverty alleviation is poor and I criticized it for its lack of effectiveness and sustainability. Instead of implementing robust policies and programs to address poverty, your administration resorted to occasional transfer of N25,000 to N50,000 to a select few individuals. This piecemeal approach does little to address the systemic issues contributing to poverty in the state. Moreover, many vulnerable individuals have not received this aid, further questioning your administration’s commitment to equitable and comprehensive poverty alleviation.
Your Excellency, I urge you to take immediate action to address these concerns and ensure transparency in your administration’s governance. Going forward, the activities and operations of the state government, especially its finances should not be shrouded in secrecy but made transparent.
Abdulyekeen Mohd Bashir, a Kwara-born political analyst, writes from Kwara State Capital.
