Kwara State Government has accused opposition politicians of attempt to smear the image of Governor AbdulRaman AbdulRazaq by using falsehood, including doctored documents, unverified claims, fake videos and other disinformation to mislead the public.
It alleged that the politicians have hatched a plot to launch a coordinated campaign of calumny against the governor and other top government officials.
Special Adviser to the Governor on Political Communications Alhaji Bashir Adigun told reporters in Ilorin: “We have invited you to draw your attention to a plot by some opposition elements in the state. The opposition, including the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and their allies, are bent on smearing the image of the governor and that of other top government officials in their desperate bid to return the state to backwardness and divert public funds and resources to their private use.”
He said: “They plan to begin use of some media platforms, including online media, to attack the government, using all sorts of tales that only exist in their imagination.
“We are aware that some mischievous elements are trying to rehash the long dismissed tale of N300million local government funds purportedly missing.
“The interesting thing is that the only source to whom they credit this phantom claim has retracted the claim on a number of occasions. As a government that cares about accountability, the government set up a probe panel, which investigated the matter.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the panel headed by retired Justice Mathew Adewara said it found no evidence that any money was missing. Before then, on July 20, the former commissioner, who was alleged to have made the claim, said no such thing ever happened.”
Former Senate President Dr. Bukola Saraki described the allegation as disingenuous, unfounded and laughable.
In a statement, Saraki’s Media Aide on Local Matters, Abdulganiyu Abdulqadir, said the government’s false claim was another baseless attempt to divert the attention of the people from the failure of the governor.
He asked Governor AbdulRazaq and his cohorts to stop raising false alarm and focus on how to provide effective governance to the people.