The Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, while speaking on the protracted crisis rocking the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) attributed the conflict to his refusal to fund a campaign structure that was formed without his prior knowledge or input as the governorship candidate.

Speaking recently at the launch of a book titled ‘Otoge’ in Ilorin, the state capital, the governor said that some cabals within the party who received millions of naira as donations for the Kwara struggle from far and wide did not deliver the huge money to him.

AbdulRazaq who was represented by the Deputy Governor, Kayode Alabi, revealed that party officials were also barred from campaigning with him until the presidential election had been won, whereas, the pendulum was clearly swinging in his favour.

According to him, “Since this book is about history, I feel it is important to set the record straight on a few things. First, the Otoge is the struggle of our people and it did not necessarily start in 2019. Every Kwaran of good conscience owned and worked for that struggle in various ways. We were only positioned by providence to lead the final lap of the breaking of the jinx that dated back many decades”.

Abdulrazaq explained that the slogan, Otoge, was a product of state-wide field research that he commissioned shortly after the primaries in October 2018, saying, “If anyone could lay claim to its copyright, it has to be the Hook Nigeria, a communications outfit owned by very young people. One of them, Toyyib, is a Kwara South prince.

“I had held meetings with various PR outfits but I found their own presentation most strikingly catchy and reflective of the Kwara struggle. We ran our campaign with that slogan and it quickly resonated with our masses. So popular was it that even motorcyclists and trailer drivers adopted it in their honking. It became a household refrain. To God be the glory and we thank the people of Kwara for this”.

Giving a rundown of the coining and adoption of the slogan, the governor revealed that shortly after the primaries in October, the party informed him that they have set up a campaign structure of which nobody consulted him beforehand even though he was the governorship candidate.

Governor AbdulRazaq further revealed that he was asked to fund the campaign structure which he was not privy to but that he declined and later led his own small campaign team across the state. According to him, it is on record that the party officially boycotted his campaign tours, saying, “Party officials got the instruction not to attend my campaign. A few of them can testify to this. I went around the whole of Kwara North without the party. However, they stylishly joined the campaign after the presidential election when it was clear Kwarans had decided in our favour.

“I am not aware of any decent democracy where a candidate would not be given the privilege of shaping the direction of his own campaign. It is even worse that my campaign was boycotted because I refused to be led by the nose. I have told these stories of the slogan and of the party issues to disabuse the mind of Kwarans or friends of Kwara who may not have had this information. In doing so, I am not claiming sole credit for the success of the struggle. Far from it. I have done so simply to clear the air, and this book launch offers the right platform to speak up.

“And for ministers, governors, party supporters and friends of Kwara who I later heard donated hundreds of millions of naira to support the Otoge struggle in Kwara, I want to say that I did not receive a kobo of that fund but how that money was managed or stolen is a story for another day”.

While congratulating the author of the work, Tony Oyeyiola, AbdulRazaq describe the book as a commendable effort, affirming, “I believe efforts as this are necessary to research and document history and the various roles played or purported to have been played by various stakeholders. I congratulate the author for the work.