Commending Tinubu on terror arrests while Kwara bleeds is insulting, PDP tells Abdulrazaq

• Adewara described governance in Kwara as tenant–agent style, with Abdulrazaq speaking “only through his chief press secretary.”
• The PDP faulted the governor for media propaganda that downplays insecurity instead of engaging displaced families and communities directly.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kwara has berated Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq for praising President Bola Tinubu’s security efforts while communities in the state grapple with unrelenting attacks.

On Wednesday, the governor had applauded the arrest of two top commanders of the Ansaru terrorist group, describing it as proof of Tinubu’s seriousness about fighting terrorism.

He said the breakthrough showed that intelligence-driven operations were yielding results under the current administration.

Northern parts of Kwara, however, continue to suffer repeated gunmen invasions, leaving villagers unsettled and farmlands deserted.

Abdulrazaq maintained that ongoing security operations in the hinterlands were being deliberately kept away from the public domain, warning that silence should not be mistaken for inactivity.

But the PDP, in a statement on Thursday, described the governor’s position as insensitive and disconnected from the hardship of ordinary Kwarans.

The party’s spokesperson in the state, Olusegun Adewara, accused Abdulrazaq of reducing governance to “tenant–agent transactions” by addressing citizens only through media handlers.

Adewara said it was regrettable that while residents in Patigi, Baruten, Edu, Kaiama and other councils were fleeing their homes, the governor was busy commending federal successes recorded elsewhere.

He said, “Kwarans cannot sleep with both eyes closed, yet the governor rolls out statements that celebrate arrests outside the state.”

The PDP spokesman also criticised what he called a reliance on propaganda, saying it was aimed at downplaying the depth of the crisis.

He argued that governors in states such as Borno, Kaduna and Zamfara achieved gains because they confronted insecurity directly and empathised with victims.

“If they had adopted Abdulrazaq’s aloof style, the nation would not have recorded any milestone in the war against terror,” Adewara said.

The opposition party insisted that what Kwara needed was visible leadership and community engagement, not “flowery press releases.”