You are driven by envy, motivated by jealousy, Gbemisola tells Kwara Governor over demolition of Saraki’s property

Kwara State Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq has come under heavy attack by the Minister of State for Transportation, Mrs. Gbemisola Saraki over the demolition of properties belonging to the late patriarch of the Saraki Family, Dr. Olusola Saraki.

Daily Times is with a copy of a press statement dated October 3, 2020 titled “Those who come to equity must come with clean hands” (Demolition of Ile Arugbo), personally signed by Gbemisola in which she also called on the Inspector General of Police, Adamu Mohammed to call the Kwara State Commissioner of Police to order, alleging that the state Police is being used by the state governor to pursue personal vendetta against her family, rather than state policy.

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The Kwara State government had on Thursday, carried out demolition exercise on a large property belonging Chief Olusola Saraki, a former senate president and father of both the immediate past senate president, Dr. Bukola Saraki and the Minister of state for Transport Gbemisola Saraki.

The demolished property, known as Ile Arugbo was acquired by Chief Olusola Saraki many years ago and used as home for the destitute, including old people. But the state government has claimed that the property was illegally acquired by Saraki and that the land was originally kept aside for the construction of state secretariat and parking space for civil service clinic. However, the demolition has attracted wide condemnation across Nigeria with many calling for Federal Government’s intervention.

In the statement, Gbemisola, a former member of the House of Representatives and former senator who represented Kwara Central, said she, as a staunch and loyal member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), had earlier chosen not to comment on the many things happening in Kwara State including acts of provocation by governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, adding however, that “Given the turn of events and the violent nature of the governor’s position, it is only right for me to speak now.”

According to her, it was very clear that the OtoGe campaign slogan of the APC in the state which was designed to remove a “Flailing PDP administration” has now been turned to an instrument against the Saraki family, adding that such was against the genuine spirit of the party.

Gbemisola therefore accused the governor of carrying out actions that practically are intended to settle perceived old generational family political scores, saying that such cannot be a policy thrust of governance, adding that unless the APC follow a new and credible pattern of doing things, it’s victory at the polls in 2019, may be short-lived.

Calling on the leadership of the party at all levels not to allow the governor mess up the structures that have been put in place by loyal and committed members, she reminded them that governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq joined APC a few months to the last elections.

“At 3:00am Thursday 2nd of January 2020, the Governor of Kwara State, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, gave orders to the police to open fire on aged women at the contested welfare home, popularly known as ‘Ile Arugbo’ (home for the aged), owned by my father, Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki,” she stated at the beginning of the statement.

Continuing, the Minister of state said, “As a staunch and loyal member of APC, I have kept quiet to date on the happenings in my state, Kwara State. I had done this for a number of reasons, including trying to “keep my head when all about me are losing theirs.”

“But all in all, I had kept quiet, as being a loyal member and supporter of the party, I did not want to get into any squabble with the Governor despite so many provocations.

“Again, as a loyal and dedicated daughter of my father, Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki, who I hold in very high esteem, I did not want to express my opinion on the propriety of the Governor’s recent political actions as it would be seen as biased because the late Waziri is my father.

“However, given the turn of events and the violent nature of the Governor’s position, it is only right for me to speak now. There might have been some elements within my party, APC, who wanted to change the O to ge narrative of the 2019 elections to be about the Sarakis, and not about what it was – the removal of a failing PDP administration.

“But clearly, by some recent steps taken, especially with Thursday’s actions, Kwara State APC must be careful to not allow a few elements with their own agenda other than governance to turn their personal vendetta into the official position of APC in the state. They must not be allowed to hijack the narrative of what our party stands for.

“The APC has, since its inception, preached and worked earnestly for genuine good governance, security, increased welfare, progress and development of the people, as exemplified by President Muhammadu Buhari, who in the face of direct provocation and deep personal attacks, remains true to the oath he took to govern all Nigerians in spite of allegiances. That is why it is important that my silence is not misconstrued as tacit approval or support for the actions taken by the Governor.

“As stated earlier, I chose to refrain from commenting on the onset of this land saga and did so for three reasons:

(1) I believed that this was a matter that would go through the rightful forum and due process to ascertain and establish my father’s legal rights or otherwise.

(2) My family individually and/or collectively has never derived and continues not to derive any commercial benefit from that piece of land. At the end of the day, what is on that land is nothing – no block of flats that the family is getting rent from, no office building, no factory or any other commercial venture; just a bungalow where the old women gather and get their basic needs attended to.

(3) Nonetheless, were my father alive today, surely, he would have been saddened to see bulldozers in Ile Arugbo,” she said.

Against all odds, Saraki said it was impossible for the governor to erase the bold footprints of her father, no matter how hard he may try.

“However, I am comforted by the knowledge that my father’s good work and his respect, support and love for the aged, which was sadly lacking in the Governor’s activities of Thursday, simply cannot be erased by demolishing a bungalow.

“When it comes down to it, Ile Arugbo is a piece of bare land that holds symbolic value of what my father stood for – humanitarianism, and that doesn’t start nor end with a building.

“But after the events of Thursday when the aged women were tear gassed and shot at in the wee hours of the morning (3:00 am), I do not want my silence to be misconstrued, as mischief makers have used that silence to attribute false statements allegedly made by me,” she said, adding that it was disrespectful of the governor to have used the police to shell her personal home.

“The level of force and violence that the Governor chose to adopt was totally unwarranted. What resistance to protest justifies firing live ammunition and tear gassing old women? Even my own personal home was not left out of the attack as numerous empty bullet shell casings and dispersed tear gas canisters were found inside my home.

“I feel that at this point, not only as a child of the late Waziri but as a member of the APC, I need to speak. I do so not only as a daughter but as a member of the party, to ensure that those thousands of members of APC who are Sarakites that supported the O to ge movement are not alienated.

“In addition, I do so to ensure that the resounding victory that APC enjoyed in Kwara is not short-lived or diminished. Governments acquire properties, even compulsorily without necessarily resorting to unprovoked violent attacks in the dead of night.

“It is especially disrespectful to me personally as a member of the APC since 2015, who welcomed and supported those who only joined us a couple of months to the elections, which includes the Governor himself, that my position as a member of the party was not given any consideration and/or regard when approaching this issue,” the statement added.