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Former Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, has told the incumbent governor of Kwara State, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, that the current wave of demolition exercise to intimidate, suppress, and silence all Kwarans would not work.

In a statement by his media aide, Yusuph Olaniyonu, Saraki said, some people would expect that he would be indifferent to the weekend demolition of the Crystal Place, a shopping mall on Sulu Gambari Road in Ilorin, ordered by the government of Kwara State.

This, he said, was because of the political relationship between him and the owner, Hon. Moshood Mustapha, who after serving as his commissioner, Special Adviser, and House of Representatives member under the platform of his party, the PDP, later defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC) and had worked against his structure since 2018.

“However, it is not my style to take positions on issues from the narrow, parochial perspective. It is my view that one should always look at the big picture, a broad perspective of any issue in reacting to it.

“It is violence against the people of Kwara State and the economy of the state. My decision to speak out against this action that reflects the pettiness of the governor and his government, which is anti-people, and against the economic development of the state is irrespective of who is involved.

“The State Governor, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq is using this demolition exercise to intimidate, suppress, and silence all Kwarans. It is his reaction to the growing unpopularity of everything that he represents within the state.

“Why is Abdulrazaq just realising the fault or whatever he interprets to be wrong with the building of the Crystal Mall structure after 64 months that he has been in office?

“The Kwara State Governor is ordering this demolition as his response in the aftermath of the recently conducted local government polls, where people in all the constituencies massively voted and rose against his party and its candidates, even when he malevolently, fraudulently, and maliciously got contrary results to be declared by his hand-picked electoral officials.

“This is the beginning of a war against Kwara State for rejecting a governor, who has failed to deliver good governance on all fronts. We should recall that he has ordered the arrest of some opposition politicians on frame-up charges.

“In my view, Abdulrazaq believes unveiling a regime of violence and destruction against the people, particularly, the elite and their property will impose a culture of silence on the state. Now, the news circulating across Ilorin is that the next target of Abdulrazaq’s demolition squad is the place where the remains of my late father, Oloye (Dr.) Abubakar Olusola Saraki, of blessed memory, is interred.

“Even, this evil plan will not stop me from saying what is right. Let me make it clear that he will only try, he must be joking if he thinks he can erase the legacies left by the great Oloye.

“What this Governor should know is that Kwara State does not belong to him. The state has existed long before he became governor and will continue to exist after he has ceased to be governor.”