Kwara Defenders, a group of young professionals in Kwara State, has accused the state Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, of mismanaging and diverting funds meant for the Kwara State Social Investment Programme (KWASSIP) to induce eligible voters across the state ahead of the Presidential and National Assembly elections on Saturday.
The group in a statement by the Convener, Kadir Olaroungbe said the Governor’s action not only constitute an electoral crime but even more a crime against the people of Kwara State, which the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration has dehumanized in the last 45 months.
The group noted that the people of Kwara State will never be swayed by the chicanery and deception of a governor who has choosen to “rob peter to pay paul” with his vote buying scheme, veiled as social investment.
They said the Governor’s action amount to an egregious abuse of power and public trust, adding that the vote buying scheme is an attempt by the Governor to exploit the plight of the people, whose party has left in unprecedented hardship.
“As we prepare for Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly elections, it has become imperative to put the people of Kwara State on notice, over the ongoing “vote buying” scheme veiled as social investment programme currently spearheaded by the Kwara State Governor, Abdulrazaq Abdulrahman.
“We note that the current pageant of nonsense, is a desperate attempt by Abdulrahman, to save his dying APC from imminent loss on Saturday.
“Unassailable evidence show that Governor Abdulrahman, has turned the Kwara State Social Investment Programme into a vehicle for voter inducement with the aim to skew election outcome. The agency under the instruction of the Governor has started disbursing funds through the agency, under the guise of social investment to 40 voters in each polling unit across the State ahead of Saturday’s election.
“Our evidence is further strengthened by the fact that none of those who have received the money so far, submitted application at any time for any money under any programme on the auspices of the Kwara State Social Investment Programme. We are therefore convinced that the social investment is a sophisticated model of vote buying, to induce voters using the instrument and resources of the state.
“Kwarans may recall that Governor Abdulrahman, has not participated in any campaign since this pre-election campaign started. This is not only because the Governor does not have any achievement to showcase, this is especially because the Governor from the get go, has been banking on vote buying for the election.
“The action of the Governor does not only constitute an electoral crime, it is an abuse of public trust. We therefore condemn the Governor’s action in its entirety and call on the people of Kwara State to beware of the Governor’s antics. We ask the people of Kwara State to rein in the Governor and get him to end this waste of the State limited resources while being on a wild goose chase.
” We call on the people of Kwara State to reject the Governor and his party at the polls on Saturday. They must use their PVC to recover the State from the Governor, who has been lackluster in performance and recorded a rather uneventful tenure.
“We have no doubt that the people of Kwara State will reject the Governor and his Party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, on Saturday, to recover Kwara State and Nigeria, and return it to a path of prosperity and restoration”, the group noted.
