By ARMSTRONG ALLAHMAGANI, Bauchi-
Saddened by the slow pace of the reconstruction of the Palace of the District Head of Katagum, Usman Mahmood, Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, has revoked the contract.
NATIONAL ACCORD reports that the contract awarded at the cost of N75 million was supposed to have been completed and commissioned within the first 100 days in office of the governor.
Governor Mohammed, however revoked the project during an inspection of projects awarded by his administration on Saturday in Zaki Local Government Area of the state.
He expressed dismay with the slow pace of work which he gave to his friend and a leader in his political party, the People’s Democratic Party.
“This Palace is the first contract we awarded when we came into power and we have the contract because of the respect we have for this family and the Palace. This District Head among his colleagues in the state, besides being my elder brother, we have a strong cordial relationship and this town is the root of Katagum Emirate”.
“We give the people’s money for the construction of roads, schools, hospitals, Palaces, among others and we decided to embark on this inspection tour to see the level of work done”.
“Since I started this inspection, I have inspected roads and other projects and I was impressed and satisfied but for this reconstruction of the Palace, I am not happy. The contractor has failed us and he is our leader in the party.”
Governor Mohammed added that: “I told the PDP Chairman that I am not happy with this project. We gave money for this project 100 percent so that this work can be completed and he increased the contract amount and we paid him but unfortunately, this hasn’t been completed.”
According to him, because of the slow pace of work, the District Head was forced to use his personal money to complete a section of the Palace so he can stay in stressing that the contractor has done injustice to us.
The Governor said: “Relationship and friendship are different, official work is different, politics is also different. I revoke this contract and we will give it to someone who would complete it. We will not waste goverment money at our disposal”.
“Before now, the District Head has been complaining about this work and I am not happy at all. The contractor is a man of honour to us, a leader in our party and because of that, I won’t call his name but he knows what he has done to us.”
He then directed the Commissioner of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Abdulrazak Zaki, to immediately source for another contractor resident in the area to handle the project.
The District Head, Usman Mahmood, in a response, expressed gratitude to the governor for his urgent intervention which would see to the completion of the project within a short period of time.
DISCLAIMER
The OPINION / COLUMN is authored by independent contributors to the National Accord Newspaper. While contributors adhere to our editorial guidelines, they are not employed by the National Accord Newspaper. The perspectives and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not represent the views of the National Accord Newspaper or its staff.
Leave a Reply