AbdulRazaq Does Not Make Noise, He Acts

The loudest voices in Kwara politics appeared to dominate the conversation before the May primaries. But when the contests ended, they lost, while Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq’s quiet grip on the party structure held firm, argues Tajudeen Habeeb.

The article says the defeated figures continued to present themselves as the state’s most popular politicians. One later moved to a senatorial ticket in the faction of the Peoples Democratic Party associated with Saraki. Predictions of a mass movement of party structures did not materialize, the author writes.

Instead, the serving senator allegedly took only one ward executive from the 52 wards in the central senatorial district, and one from the 193 wards across Kwara. The article presents that result as evidence that 192 of the state’s 193 wards remain behind AbdulRazaq during a period of intense political bargaining.

Habeeb portrays the governor as a calm political operator who avoids unnecessary fights and relies on organizational control rather than constant publicity. That, the author argues, helps explain why President Bola Tinubu keeps AbdulRazaq close.

The article also praises the governor’s record since taking office in 2019. It says no Kwara governor since 1967, with possible exceptions for military administrator George Agbazika Innih and foundational leader David Bamigboye, has developed the capital and the wider state as much. It makes similar claims about basic education, revenue generation, economic expansion and support for poor residents, though the supplied article ends while listing those areas.