Emmanuel Addeh
The Kwara State government has explained that a viral video indicating that Governor AbdulRahman Abdulrazaq was being booed during an event was a 2018 event before he became governor.
A statement by the Special Adviser, Political Communication to the governor, Bashir Adigun, said the video was taken during campaigns four years ago, adding that thugs allegedly mobilised by Senator Bukola Saraki attempted to heckle the governor at the time.
Specifically, he recalled that it was recorded at an event held on December 26, 2018, by the Ilorin Emirate Descendants Progressive Union (IEDPU) at the Emir’s Palace, which was disrupted by the thugs.
He debunked the insinuation that the governor was booed at the Kwara State Polytechnic, as alleged by the purveyors of the video, describing it as false.
”No event took place in Kwara Polytechnic on August 7, 2022, to warrant the governor being there.
”The video was taken in 2018 at the annual event organised by Ilorin Emirate’s apex sociocultural body, the IEDPU. The governor who was a candidate then, attended the event as a special guest of his home community association.
”It is well known that this riotous and disrespectful action by Saraki supporters and thugs was the last straw that caused the Saraki’s loss of every single elective seat in Kwara at the 2019 general elections,” Adigun alleged.
The governor who was a candidate then, the statement said, attended the event as a special guest of his home community association.
“Those who trended the video desperately meant to send the signal that an incumbent governor was being booed. That probably misled the wrong audience.
“For the Kwara audience, however, the video did the opposite. It reminded them of the terrible old days when anyone who held a different view was treated with contempt and harassed with thugs loyal to the deposed dynasty.
“The video reminds them of the dreaded dark days when respected royalty and elders of the community were humiliated for daring to differ. The video brought back memories of when opposition leaders were denied access to public places,” Adigun said.
According to him, over the last three years of the AbdulRazaq administration, Kwara has enjoyed unprecedented peace and security as shown in cases of scheduled flights to the city of Ilorin having quadrupled.
“The Kwara government states that it was a video that retold the story of the horrors of those years, in contrast with the convivial atmosphere that the same man they harassed in the old video has now created in Kwara State.
“It is a rude awakening of Kwarans to the ugly past administrations and a timely call for them to exercise their imminent civic duty of voting to permanently bury the bad old days and its ruthless rulers.
“While the governor represents a bright new dawn of free speech, those behind the video are purveyors of fake news reminiscent of the old order. Certainly, no reasonable Kwara person wishes a return of those years where to hold a contrary view earned you jeers, indignation and violence.
“Members of the public are kindly urged to ignore the old video clip which is clearly one propaganda gone awry,” the statement noted.
