Kwara State governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq has taken a stock of his over three-year tenure and concluded that he made meaningful progress across the state.
The governor who is seeking for a second term in office under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) scored his Otoge administration high on infrastructure, security, education, health, water supply and workers’ welfare during the period under review.
Speaking with journalists in Lagos, the governor said his investments in healthcare, education, rural-urban development, water facilities, and workers’ welfare were so significant that emerging data had shown a wide gap between what he met in 2019 and the situation today.
In a statement issued by his chief press secretary, Rafiu Ajakaye, which was made available to LEADERSHIP in Abuja yesterday, the governor said the administration had achieved a lot by working with development partners who had earlier left the state for lack of support.
He said the government now works with the SightSavers International to strengthen eye care services in the state.
The governor, who asserted that no electoral ward in the state is without positive traces of his administration, said project commissioning was hardly a measure of development or performance.
He listed some of the administration’s completed projects in road, water, health, and education across the state, adding that “Beyond these, we have many ongoing projects that have been designed towards boosting the economic base of the state. We have visual arts centre, film factory, garment factory, innovation hub, and of course the international conference centre. There are other major projects too which we will complete this year, such as the Ilesha Gwanara Road, the Tunde Idiagbon Bridge, Adeta-Yebumot Road, Osi-Obbo Road, and the largest squash court in the country which is eight-winged, among many others.”
Asked on the disagreement within the former Otoge allies, AbdulRazaq said it had nothing to do with the government’s performance or service delivery to the largest majority of the people but essentially about issues of political ambitions and interests which he described as legitimate in a democracy. “Whether in water, rural development, basic education or healthcare, or workers’ welfare, we have clearly delivered on our mandate and we continue to do more,” he added.
AbdulRazaq also spoke on the future of the capital city Ilorin, which he said has been taken care of with the Ilorin City Master Plan – the second of its kind since Kwara became a state in 1967.
“Most of the growth we have now is unplanned and that is why you have flooding, poor ventilation and lack of green space, among others. The first and only plan of the city was done between 1967 and 1970s. It expired many decades ago without replacement. We have come up with a new one; we are also in the process of designing for the Offa-Oyun axis, Igbomina, Patigi/Edu and Baruten axis of the state,” the governor said.
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