Restriction Of Some Categories Of Commercial Vehicles On Public Place Insensitive, Heartless — Group Tells Gov. Abdulrazaq

A Kwara-based pro-democracy group, The People’s Voice Advocacy Network (PVAN), has strongly criticised the Kwara State Government’s decision to restrict certain categories of commercial vehicles, including Keke Napep, from plying Ahmadu Bello Way, a public road funded by taxpayers.

In a statement released on Sunday, 10 November 2024, by PVAN’s Deputy Publicity Secretary, Engr. Abdulraheem Kehinde, the group described the government’s move as an anti-masses policy, noting that the restriction order is insensitive and heartless.

The group argued that “this restriction creates a gap between the rich and the poor, effectively denying the latter access to basic amenities and governance benefits.” It added that it believes this decision demonstrates the government’s tendency to prioritise the interests of the wealthy while disregarding the struggles of the poor, except during election periods, when the political class uses and later discard them.”

PVAN questioned the logic behind government using taxpayers’ funds to construct a road and then restricting those same taxpayers from using it.

“How can a Government use tax payers’ money to construct a road and restrict the same payers from using the road? For a government to wake up and decide that the next thing befitting Kwarans is to make a policy that will subject people to further hardship speaks a lot of how the government views poor people,” the group said.

Speaking further, the advocacy group lamented that residents, business owners and workers who make use of the road daily and have no personal vehicles or have abandoned their cars at home due to high costs of fuel, would now face significant challenges commuting to their homes, shops and places of work.

Additionally, PVAN criticized the government’s Urban Renewal policy, which has allegedly destroyed hundreds of small businesses in Ilorin metropolis without providing alternative venues for the affected traders.

“No wonder that Kwara’s unemployment and poverty rates continue to soar higher, with no clear-cut government’s policy in place to address it. Not even KWASSIP that has gulped billions of state’s resources could do anything worthwhile to arrest this worrying situation.”

The group, therefore, urged Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq to reconsider his administration’s latest anti-people directive and recommit to prioritising the interest of all citizens, not just the affluent. It emphasised that policies should aim to alleviate poverty and promote economic growth, rather than exacerbating existing hardships.

Engr. Abdulraheem Kehinde,
Deputy Publicity Secretary,
The People’s Voice Advocacy Network.