By Adebayo Obajemu
Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State was first sworn in for his inaugural termination on May 29, 2019. He came to power on the crest of the then brewing anti Saraki dynasty sentiments called ‘ Otoge’..He later took the oath of office for his second term on May 29, 2023.
Now in his seventh year as governor, he has been able to transform Kwara state from being a backwaters into a commercial hub, a thriving convergence of business, tourism and hospitality, away from the ‘ civil service state – a euphemism for a dry state.
The governor has made his mark in infrastructural development, with particular reference to the urban renewal project, rural-urban road networks, and waste management system. He has also fostered inclusivity, teachers’ recruitment, and regular payment of salaries and gratuity.
Professor Saudat Sallah Abdulbaqi , professor of mass communication said,
“If you look at the administration, you will see that all strata of society are captured. You have men and women, you have young and old, and you have people with disabilities and people without disabilities. With this, everybody is having a sense of belonging and will be able to identify with the policies of the government,” she said.
One of the key achievements of his administration is the management of the state finances, including efforts to address kwara debts and shore up its revenue base, she said.
The best symbol of this changes is the state capital, Ilorin, which today wears the look of a mini Lagos or Johannesburg in terms of modern amenities, road infrastructure, bustling commercial vitality and clean environment as seen in good road network, flyover bridges that have added to the scenic beauty of the city.
Major milestones include massive road and urban renewal projects, the recruitment of over 8,000 teachers, boosting Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), and improving primary healthcare services across all 16 local government areas.
Infrastructure and Urban Renewal
The administration has constructed and rehabilitated hundreds of kilometers of rural and urban roads across Kwara’s 16 local government areas.
The governor has delivered major urban renewal projects, including the iconic General Babatunde Idiagbon Flyover in Tanke and the Dr. Ibrahim Zulu Gambari Bridge in Ilorin.
He has ever since coming to power championed the Kwara Smart City project, which has given Ilorin metropolis a smart, clean new look, and improved modern waste management systems.
Education and Civil Service
In the area of education and civil service, the administration has made its mark. It has so far recruited nearly 9,000 teachers through a transparent process, constructed over 2,000 classrooms, and upgraded educational infrastructure.
He also established the Kwara State University of Education to boost the quality and training of teaching professionals
He has also cleared long-standing promotion arrears for civil servants and eliminated the backlog of unpaid salaries and gratuities.
Economy and Agriculture
The Abdulrazaq administration has grown Kwara’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) from ₦30.6 billion to well over ₦87 billion. It has also promoted the Kwara Agribusiness and Rural Investment Programme (KARIP) and distributed tractors, seedlings, and fertilizers to local farmers.
It also established the Kwara Garment Factory to train youths in textile production and stimulate job creation.
Healthcare Delivery
In the area of healthcare, the administration has fared well. The giant stride the government has made in healthcare has been repeatedly recognized by the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA) as the Best Primary Healthcare State.
Gov. Abdulrazaq has also upgraded state hospitals, renovated health clinics, and facilitated the construction of the advanced cancer treatment center in North-Central Nigeria.
Governance and Social Welfare
In the area of governance and social welfare, the administration has fostered inclusivity by appointing women, youths, and people with disabilities to key government positions, granting all demographics a sense of belonging.
Remodeling and Redesigning of Kwara Hotel Limited
The administration has successfully remodelled Kwara Hotel into a modern, state of the art hotel with over 190 rooms, with meeting rooms, a botanic garden, a swimming pool, security room.
Dr. Rafiu Ajakaiye, former Chief Press Secretary to the governor, said of the monumental achievement of Governor Abdulrazaq, “On the Ahmadu Bello Way and its precincts alone, which is Kwara’s 10 Downing Street or its equivalent in Ibadan, the Otoge government of Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq has added at least 10 new modern structures that have changed the skyline of the capital city for generations to come.
These legacy structures include the International Conference Centre Ilorin; Revenue House (now the tallest building in Kwara State and built exclusively with savings from consultancy fees that went to private pockets in the past); Justice Saidu Kawu CourtHouse, primed to be one of the best in Nigeria; multistorey Senator Oluremi Tinubu Hospital; the Convention Center; Finance House; remodelled Kwara Hotel; Innovation Hub (which now has solid partnerships with the U.S Government, UNDP, IHS Towers); Visual Arts Centre; and Ministry of Education Complex.
The Otoge administration has many other major projects elsewhere in Ilorin and other towns, including but not limited to the two campuses of the Kwara State University in Osi and Ilesha Baruba, Shea Butter Factory in Kaiama, Garment Factory, Offa Stadium and Lafiagi Stadium, the refurbished Kwara Indoor Sports Hall, Africa’s biggest squash court, multistorey Model School in Adeta, Kwara State University of Education, and Sugar Factory Film Studio. Those are structures with 100% or substantial additions from the Otoge administration.
In road infrastructure and education, among others, the new administration has shown how to do things differently.
For specifics, the Otoge administration has delivered at least 588.77km of roads, apart from the 293kms of the tax credit roads that the Governor facilitated to the state.
This is different from the more than 100 interlock access roads in the hinterlands of Ilorin. Senator Saraki and his predeccessor, HE Abdulfatai Ahmed, gave the state a total of 398.73km of roads, including the 120km Chikanda road funded by the Federal Government.
Healthy Competition
These huge achievements have sparked conversations about, who has done more between the incumbent governor and two of his predecessors David Bamigboye and George Agbazika Innih. Abdulrazaq has not just upgraded the infrastructure in the capital city, he has added new ones across the state.
In the education sector, one needs to check the state of Kwara in 2019: the blacklist by UBEC since 2013 and how the new administration has rescued the sector.
The stories are everywhere on the internet and can be verified with different institutions. For instance, Saraki and Ahmed hired a total of 6,098 teachers. If you want to be generous and add the sunset teachers, who were later disengaged as a result of how they were hired, the tally goes up to 8,174 in 16 years.
The story of these hires is another thing. In a space of seven years, however, the Otoge administration has added 8,912 teachers to the stream. These tallies, among others, do not support the unfair narrative by the writer. He should also investigate how the Otoge government hired teachers and tell, which one makes him proud as an academic. If Otoge came to expand opportunities for every Kwaran, he should give the governor his flowers for how he gave equitable opportunity to all applicants.
Without being immodest or crediting it with perfection, the Otoge administration and the Saraki regimes are incomparable in the quantum of infrastructural development they brought to the state, including in workers’ welfare and respect for human dignity. Even in revenue generation, no administration has raised the state’s IGR as the Otoge’s, moving it from N30.6bn in 2019 to N92.1bn by the end of 2025. This happened through improved efficiency, automation of processes, and expansion of the tax base from 47,368 in 2019 to 1,417,974 as of March 2026.