You can’t erase my father’s legacies, Saraki dares Kwara Gov

A former Senate President, Bukola Saraki has reacted angrily to the revocation by the state government of the popular Ile-Arugbo, the property used by his late father, Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki, for years.

Saraki said the governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq had crossed the line of decency with his recent efforts to erase the legacies of his late father.

The governor had, on Friday, reverted the ownership of the land bordering the Civil Service Clinic in Ilorin to that of the state government, saying a new State secretariat complex will now be erected on the land.

According to the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Rafiu Ajakaye, “the land was originally meant for Government Secretariat and parking space of the Civil Service Clinic but was unlawfully allocated to a private firm Asa Investments Limited without any record of payment to the state government. No certificate of occupancy was ever issued in favour of the firm.”

Governor AbdulRazaq however, signed a constitutional instrument withdrawing the allocation of plots of land 1, 3 and 5 to the firm, asserting that the said land was unlawfully appropriated contrary to the purpose for which it was meant.

But Saraki, in a statement he personally signed and issued in Lagos today, stated that the war of attrition waged against the legacy of his father and everything that belongs to the late politician simply portrayed the Governor as a man who lacks the sense of history and set out only to fight the Saraki family but not to serve the interest of Kwarans.

According to Saraki, contrary to the claim by the government, the property rightfully belonged to his late father as it was allocated to one of his companies, Asa Investment Limited, since the 1980s.

“And contrary to the claim of the Governor, the land was properly allocated and a Right of Occupancy title issued on it. It should be noted that the excuse given by Abdulrazaq in his revocation order holds no water since it is clear that this is the height of his vengeance against my father, Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki,” Saraki noted.

He said: “Yesterday night, the Kwara State Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq finally showed his true colour when he announced his decision to revoke the ownership of a property rightfully held by my late father, Dr. Olusola Abubakar Saraki on Plots 1, 3 and 5 Ilofa Road, GRA, Ilorin popularly known as Ile Arugbo, (Old People’s home) which since the Second Republic, has always been used to host the weekly gathering of a multitude of aged people in the society who are provided food, money and health services, as part of the social welfare programme sponsored by the late politician. The tradition has since been maintained.

“Before now, this same Governor had invited all the members of the State House of Assembly and directed them to commence the process of amending the law to change the name of the State University which the last administration renamed after my late father, Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki. He then followed up on this act of vengeance by initiating a bill to rename the University and expunge the name of the late Dr. Abubakar Olusola Saraki. Now, he has decided to also revoke the titles of the landed property which belongs to the late politician. May be, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq thinks his will be the last administration in Kwara State but definitely, this is self-delusion.”

Saraki stated that seven months after assumption of office, Abdulrazaq had proved that his only “cardinal programme” was to fight his late father, saying enough is enough.