Kaduna drainages: How contractors went berserk, forced El-Rufai to halt project
//Godwin Ekosin, Kaduna Northwest Nigeria//
Following Gobroadsheet’s investigations, facts have emerged over the philosophy behind the suspension of ongoing drainages project across Kaduna State under the leadership of Governor Nasir El-Rufai. It seems not intended.
One of such facts is that, contractors handling the project have gone berserk to include more spots that were not initial captured in the terms and agreement of the project which many have seen as avenue to swindle tax payers of their hard earned money.
Upon discovery, the state governor had to take decisive action in order not to put additional liability on the state that is possibly not captured in the multi year budget plan currently being implemented.
But, the drainages are necessary and very important to people of Kaduna because it will help check erosion which has become a yearly occurence apart from addressing slippery of roads each time it rains.
The governor himself captured it better when he said, some contractors were using the project to commit the government into extra expenditure.
Though he was speaking during a peace meeting with religious leaders from all the 23 local government areas of the state last weekend, he was physically not happy with the development because the contractors are members of All Progressives Congress (APC).
According to him, the drainages were being constructed to maintain roads and while the project lasted, many youths were able to secure employment and many business were boosted through the patronage of workers at the sites.
For instance, some boys who used to terrorise Kaduna communities were fully engaged and that eventually took them off the street.
The governor continued when he hinted that some of the contractors given the jobs however went berserk and started building drainages where they were not assigned and even where there are no roads.
“Some of the contractors even went beyond their agreement and started doing drainages even on roads that belong to the federal government thereby incurring further costs to the state government.
“We have made some mistakes but we will correct them as soon as possible to continue with the project,” added the governor.