From Taiye Joseph, Ilorin
The political atmosphere in Kwara State, heated up on Thursday as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and the state Government exchanged words over the worsening insecurity in parts of the state and Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq’s reference to the 2018 Offa bank robbery.
The PDP accused the Governor of trivialising the current wave of kidnappings and banditry by comparing them to the Offa tragedy, describing his remarks as “a shameful defensive political stunt.”
In a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Olusegun Olusola Adewara, the opposition party said the governor’s comments during his visit to Oke-Ode exposed “an absolute lack of understanding of the problem he was elected to solve.”
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According to the PDP, “To compare a single, albeit tragic, bank robbery to widespread rural banditry, farm raids, mass kidnappings, and the displacement of communities in Kwara North and South, is a shocking failure of leadership. It is cruel and insulting to exploit the scars of Offa people for political point-scoring.”
The party also dismissed AbdulRazaq’s suggestion of any link between former Senate President Bukola Saraki and the robbery, noting that the Federal Government had long cleared him of such allegations.
But the Kwara State Government swiftly hit back, accusing the PDP of attempting to whitewash its past and undermine the gravity of the Offa tragedy.
In a statement by Bashir Adigun, Special Adviser on Media to the Governor, the Government, said, “It is shameful for the PDP to describe the Offa robbery as just a single bank robbery. It was a national tragedy that claimed dozens of lives, including security operatives. Kwarans have not forgotten the confessions of suspects and the vehicles linked to PDP chieftains.”
Adigun accused the PDP of hypocrisy, stressing that “for 16 years, Kwara was under the grip of political thuggery, cultism, and bloodletting. The people of Kwara rejected that dark era in 2019, and we will not go back.”
He added that despite nationwide security challenges, the AbdulRazaq administration has been focused on development. “This Government has rebuilt schools, upgraded hospitals, opened rural roads, and empowered women and youths. The difference between PDP’s era of oppression and today’s progress is clear,” he said.
With both sides trading accusations, political observers say the heated exchange reflects deeper tensions ahead of the next electoral season, as insecurity continues to pose a major challenge to governance in the state.
