Date: 2020-01-14

Abdulrahman Abdulrasaq, governor of Kwara state, says the government of Abdufatah Ahmed, his predecessor, sold 110 government properties, including the house meant for the deputy governor.

The governor said this on Monday after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at Aso Rock.

Accusing his predecessor of mismanaging resources of the state, Abdulrasaq said his deputy now lives in a rented apartment.

"What we met was that, they have sold virtually about 110 government properties including the deputy governor's residence, our deputy governor is staying in rented accommodation, they just shared everything," he said.

"It's so painful, we have to develop alternative means of generating revenue and that is why we have to be enterprising in the way we do our things. I came to see the president to wish him good tidings for the new year and also with a shopping list because our state is in dire streaks. When we got in, there was a total collapse in the state start from education. Our four colleges of education were on strike for a year.

"The government was owing teachers about N750 million. Thank God we have been able to clear that. Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) had blacklisted Kwara state since 2013. So, it shows you that there had not been any investment in the education sector.

"But we have been able to clear the liabilities. We paid UBEC N450 million which was misappropriated by the previous administration. We are good to go with UBEC. We need federal intervention, we need federal help. UNICEF has left Kwara, we are lagging behind in everything. We have to pay close to a billion in counterpart funding which the previous administration had not paid. Funding for polio, roll back malaria."

He said when he took over, there was no running water anywhere, but within two months, his government had fixed the problem.

He also said the state's civil service has been clearing backlog of debts because his predecessor stopped paying full salary since 2013.

The governor had in January ordered the demolition of Saraki political home known as Ile Arugbo in Ilorin, the state capital. The development had heightened the crisis between the governor and former Senate President Bukola Saraki who is Ahmed's political benefactor.