In a statement by his media aide Rafiu Ajakaye, Belgore said the decision to rename the public-owned KWASU after Saraki "heightens the widespread worry that Kwara State is being turned into a personal fiefdom."

The statement added: "Saraki was a political leader and therefore we should not politicise an academic institution. Moreso, his political leadership was a partisan one. He was not known to have made any significant contributions to education in the State. He was not known to have even enjoyed universal political acceptance throughout the length and breadth of the State. It is therefore wrong and indefensible to name an institution that belongs to the entire people of the State after such a figure. It is a dangerous precedent. "Kwara State government is best advised not to go ahead with it as the decision risks being reversed in the same way that the President's decision to rename the University of Lagos as Moshood Abiola University was reversed, despite Abiola's undisputed contributions to education - including his many educational endowments - nationwide."