Former Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has strongly criticized Kwara State Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, over the rising wave of insecurity in the state, particularly in the Kwara South and North Senatorial Districts, where bandit attacks have reportedly displaced dozens of communities.

In a statement released on Saturday by his media office and signed by his spokesperson, Yusuph Olaniyonu, Dr. Saraki accused Governor Abdulrazaq of incompetence, insensitivity, and attempting to deflect blame by referencing the 2018 Offa robbery incident in connection with the former Senate President.

The statement followed a recent video clip that surfaced from Governor Abdulrazaq’s belated visit to Oke Ode, a town in Ifelodun Local Government Area where bandits reportedly killed 21 people. Saraki’s camp described the governor’s remarks during the visit as “reckless,” alleging that the governor made “false, defamatory, and irresponsible insinuations” about Saraki in relation to the Offa robbery incident.

“It is either insensitivity or a lack of capacity to appreciate and process issues that will make a governor equate the widespread killing, kidnapping, and maiming of people across two of the three senatorial districts with a robbery incident,” the statement read.

According to Saraki’s media office, the situation in Kwara has deteriorated to the extent that residents from over 50 communities have fled their homes due to unrelenting attacks by armed groups. The former Senate President, who recently called national attention to the crisis in a speech in Ilorin, said the governor’s response has been both delayed and inadequate.

The statement added that Governor Abdulrazaq only visited Oke Ode after Saraki raised the alarm and urged both state and federal authorities to act. It also criticized the governor for prioritizing political engagements outside the state while local communities grapple with insecurity.

“It is laughable that a governor whose state witnessed the killing of 21 people in one community took five days before visiting the town, while he had time to travel to Imo State for project commissioning,” it stated.

Saraki also recommended that the state’s security council be expanded to include all first- and second-class traditional rulers to strengthen grassroots engagement in combating insecurity.

Addressing the reference to the Offa robbery made by the governor, Saraki’s media office reiterated that the former Senate President had no involvement in the 2018 incident.

It cited official reports from the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in the Federal Ministry of Justice, which reportedly found no evidence linking Saraki to the crime.

“The attempt to revive false allegations from a case long settled by the federal authorities reflects the governor’s desperation to divert attention from his failures,” the statement said.

Saraki’s team further alleged that Governor Abdulrazaq has sponsored legal actions by select family members of the robbery victims in an effort to revive the political controversy. However, the statement noted that other relatives of the victims have publicly distanced themselves from the legal case and warned politicians against exploiting their grief.

“His devious scheme and dirty politics have delayed justice and closure for the victims, their families, and the Offa community,” the statement added.

The former Senate President, who said he would not engage in further political bickering, maintained that his objective remains to draw attention to the escalating violence in Kwara and push the government to act.

“Dr. Saraki is not interested in bandying words with the Kwara State Governor. His call is meant to get the governor to show more empathy for the plight of the people and live up to his responsibility as the state’s chief security officer,” the statement concluded.

As of press time, the Kwara State Government had not issued a formal response to Saraki’s statement.

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