Riau Governor's OTT: High Political Costs, Regional Heads Repeatedly Entangled In Corruption

Riau Governor Abdul Wahid (left front) arrived at the KPK's Red and White Building, Kuningan Persada, South Jakarta, Tuesday, November 2025. (VOI / Wardhany Tsa Tsia)

JAKARTA The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) arrested 10 people during a hand arrest or OTT operation in Riau Province, Monday (3/11/2025). One of those who was also arrested by the KPK was Riau Governor Abdul Wahid.

Abdul Wahid's arrest in the operation has been confirmed by KPK Chairman Setyo Budiyanto and KPK spokesman Budi Prasetyo, saying that 10 people were arrested by the KPK in Riau Province. In addition, the KPK also confiscated some money as evidence.

"It's true, there were arrests carried out by the KPK in the Riau Province area. Until now, there have been about 10 people who have been arrested during the arrests," said Budi.

There has been no official statement from the KPK regarding the details of the case that made Abdul Wahid caught OTT. However, news emerged regarding the alleged corruption in the construction of a road lying atay flyover at the Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) Office of Riau Province.

Abdul Wahid is a politician from the National Awakening Party (PKB) who was elected governor of Riau in the 2024 Riau gubernatorial election. The former member of the DPR for the 2019-2024 period was inaugurated as governor by President Prabowo Subianto simultaneously with 481 regional heads from various regions in Indonesia at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, on February 20.

Quoting Kompas, Riau Governor Abdul Wahid was actually re-elected as a member of the DPR for the 2024-2029 period from the second electoral district with the most votes for the seats in the DPR. But he ran as a candidate for Governor of Riau in the 2024 gubernatorial election after deciding to resign as a member of the DPR.

Abdul Wahid's arrest adds to the list of cases of the Governor of Riau who was arrested for corruption. The previous three Riau Governors have also been thrown into guards for being proven corrupt. They are Saleh Djasit, Rusli Zainal, and Annas Maamun.

Saleh Djasit was the Governor of Riau for the 1998-2023 period and his case was revealed in 2008. He was arrested and sentenced to four years in prison after being proven corrupt in the fire car procurement project.

Saleh was proven to have cost the state Rp4.7 billion. Even though he was sentenced to four years in prison, he was released from condition after 2.5 years of serving his sentence.

Meanwhile, Rusli Zainal served as Governor of Riau for two terms, 2003-2008 and 2008-2013. He was sentenced to 14 years in prison and a fine of Rp. 1 billion, subsidiary to six months in prison by the Pekanbaru Corruption Court, Riau. The case that ensnared him was corruption at the National Sports Week (PON) and forestry in Pelalawan Siak.

Rusli Zainal is considered legally accepting PON gifts or bribes and abuse of authority for forestry cases. For PON corruption, Rusli was proven to have received a prize to launch the proposal or ratification of regional regulations (perda) related to PON in Riau 2012.

Despite being sentenced to 14 years, Rusli submitted a review (PK) to the Supreme Court (MA) and his sentence turned lighter to 10 years.

Furthermore, Riau Governor 2014-2016 Annas Maamun was involved in corruption in a bribery case to revise the forest area. he was proven to have received a bribe of 166,100 US dollars or around Rp. 2.34 billion, Rp. 500 million, and Rp. 3 billion from a promise of Rp. 8 billion in Singapore dollars.

According to a survey by Indonesia Corruption Watch (ICW), nationally there were 364 corruption cases handled throughout 2024, the highest in recent years.

From the statistics presented, Riau is the most corruption cases with a total of 76 suspects. Followed by Bengkulu 68 suspects, and East Nusa Tenggara with 63 suspects.

Apart from governors, a number of other regional heads in Riau have also been convicted of corruption. The Regent of Siak Arwin AS, Burhanuddin (Kampar), Ramlan Zas (Rokan Hulu), Tengku Azmun Jaafar (Plawan), King Thamsir Rahman (Indragiri Hulu), and Herliyan Saleh (Bengkalis) are also called corruptors.

Next there are Aceh (56 suspects), North Sumatra (52 suspects), West Kalimantan (42 suspects), East Kalimantan (37 suspects), and Bangka Belitung Islands (34 suspects).

The number of regional heads caught in corruption has attracted the attention of the wider community. According to ICW, the high political costs and the tighter the competition in regional elections are the factors that encourage corruption.

The 'modus of corruption' has not changed much. The abuse of authority that led to bribery transactions is the most widely exposed form of regional head corruption. The case is still that-that's all, about the authority being traded, "Oce Madril, Researcher at the UGM Anti-Corruption Study Center, citing the official ICW website.