By Dare Akogun
Immediate past Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki has described the claim by Kwara State Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq that he embezzled the Universal Basic Education Fund and also used his position as Senate President to prevent the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from investigating the case as an outright lie which the governor must retract immediately.
Saraki in a statement signed by his Press Officer on Local Matters, Abdulganiyu Abdulqadir, noted that the governor has only seven days to retract the statement or he should meet him in court to prove his false claims.
It will be recalled that Governor Abdulrahman made claim on Sunday while speaking at the inauguration of the campaign council of the APC Senatorial Candidate for Kwara Central.
Saraki who said he has ignored all the lies all this while , because he believed the governor is resorting to cheap blackmail ti mask his failure in office, but he has decided to go the legal way since the governor has refused to desist from lying against him.
According to the statement, “I have ignored all his lies all this while as I believe he was resorting to that cheap escape measure to mask his failure in governance. Now, I will have to take strong measures by challenging him in court since he will not desist from fabricating lies against me.
“To disprove his current lies, I left as governor of Kwara State in 2011 and did not become the Senate President until 2015. So, how could I have used my position as Senate President to block the investigation of any case concerning anything that happened during my tenure as Governor?
“Anyway, everyone knows that even while I was Senate President, I was not only investigated by the EFCC but also taken to court. So to say it was because I was Senate President that I was not investigated on any issue is a big lie fabricated by a man desperate to divert attention from his poor performance since he was elected into office.
“Also, under my tenure as Governor of Kwara State, the state government had no issue with UBEC. One of the strong areas where my administration recorded good achievements and got accolades was the area of education.
“Whether at the primary, secondary, or tertiary levels, Kwara State under my tenure recorded achievements. These include the introduction of the Book Revolving Initiative for Schools (BREINS) which improved access to books from textbooks to pupil ratio of 4-1 to 1-1 and the Teacher Development Needs Assessment (TDNA) under which 23,000 teachers sat for a competency test in literacy and numeracy to determine the level of training and support they needed.
“We also reduced pupil to teachers ratio from 34 to 1 to 13 to 1 in primary schools, from 50 to 1 to 19 to 1 in junior secondary schools, and from 43 to 1 to 16 to 1 in senior secondary schools. Of course, we established the state university, Kwara State University, and the International Aviation College.
“Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq should know that I became Governor about 20 years ago and cease to be governor over 11 years ago. I am not the reason for your failure. I have served my tenure.
“You had the opportunity in the three and a half years to perform and execute projects for Kwarans to see and benefit from but instead, your focus was on me and my family. You concentrated efforts on demolishing our property. Now, the time of reckoning is here.
Saraki said instead of the governor showcasing his projects, he is still talking about a governor who left office well over a decade ago.
“This will not help your cause. If his strategists feel that shouting my name every time and drawing my name into all issues will be a smart way of explaining his poor performance as governor and his cluelessness as an administrator, they have only compounded his failure.
“Our people are very intelligent and discerning. They have seen that the present administration is a huge joke which is why they have tagged it a ‘promise and fail’ government. If the governor has solid projects that he has commissioned or beneficial Programmes and policies that are serving the interest of the people, he will not be incensed about my name every time he has cause to speak. He will have concrete things to campaign with.
“Today, he has no project to campaign with because he is focused on a vendetta, score-settling, petty quarrels, and instigating violence.
“On this issue of UBEC fund, I have told my lawyers to write him to retract the statement or be ready to prove it in court. If he has the facts, he should be ready to waive his immunity and subject his fact to proper judicial scrutiny”, Saraki stated.
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