Alhaji Waziri Yakubu Gobir, governorship standard bearer of the Young Progressives Party, YPP, in Ilorin, in the late hours of Wednesday, lists a few reasons why Kwara's incumbent governor, Abdulrahaman Abdulrazak, is failing in his duties as the election draws near: lack of planning, refusal to think outside the box, and perpetual absence from office.
Gobir, among other capable candidates from the same state constituency but from different political parties, aspires to unseat Abdulrazak and the All Progressives Congress, or APC, in the upcoming election in 2019.
In a governorship discussion earlier that day, Gobir had cited specific instances of Abdulrazak's administration's lack of transparency and said that the state government had largely failed as a result of his refusal to be transparent about his spending.
Taking it a notch higher with a media parley with selected media houses at his GRA Ilorin home, the Havard-trained businessman and pharmacist explained in finer points why the state is in huge debt both external and internal and why things appear not to be working, as he sees it.
“There was never any attempt to do a needs analysis of the people,” Gobir explained.
According to him, even as a private citizen of the state, he has, through his Gobir Foundation Organisation, GFO, in partnership with a transparency-biased NGO carried out a needs analysis of what people in far-flung communities in Kwara require to be liveable.
“We have established that our people need water, electricity, accessibility, and healthcare facilities.
“These are the principal needs of our people and not building overhead bridges that are never completed or building roads haphazardly and not connecting anybody to anywhere,” Gobir said.
The YPP aspirant further went ahead to comment on the alleged debt overhang in the state.
He criticized the APC ruling state government for incurring huge debts since 2019 to execute what he described as white elephant projects in the state.
“I don’t have any problems with borrowing, but it should be for value and wealth creation for the people.”
According to him, “huge amounts have been taken to execute white elephant projects such as the esoteric Tanke overhead bridge in Ilorin.”
Commenting on the forthcoming general elections, the party’s gubernatorial candidate, said ”Our chances are in the hand of God, the elections this time around will not be about big political parties but about individuals and personalities who can deliver the dividends of democracy.
“We made mistakes in the last elections in 2019, this is the time to correct our past mistakes by electing credible leaders,” he added.
On security challenges in the state, he explained that while the issue remains a nationwide one, he believes the state governor who is in control of the security vote should be able to engage the security architecture available to him for the safety of the citizenry.
Gobir also identified poverty and unemployment as the two major challenges confronting the people of the state.
He said if elected in 2023, the emphasis would be placed on opening up the rural areas where agricultural activities are hampered by poor infrastructural facilities, such as good roads, water and electricity among others.
Gobir further disclosed that p would also be given to Small and Medium Scale Businesses in the state to boost the economy and reduce the poverty rate among the people.