Governor of Osun State, Senator Ademola Adeleke, has ordered the immediate suspension of the consultant for the $106 million Ilesa Water Project, Mrs Tawa Williams, over alleged questionable handling of the project.
The governor stated this in a statement by his spokesperson, Mallam Olawale Rasheed. He also directed full-scale probe of the project and disbursed loans.
This is “especially as there is allegedly no progress on the project despite reported disbursement of N10 billion and another $28million on the project.”
He equally suspended the project coordinator to allow for unhindered review of the loan administration while the consultant was directed to return to government the N70m bullet proof jeep in her possession.
Governor Adeleke’s directive was sequel to the interim report of the state Assets Recovery Committee, chaired by Dr Bashiru Tokunbo Salami, which recommended immediate action to stop further squandering of loans secured to execute the water project.
The governor frowned at the alleged large-scale corruption reflected in the handling of the loans and the project, an action he regretted has denied people of Ilesa and environs of drinkable water.
“My administration will dig into this matter with all seriousness. The huge fund in question are loans to be repaid. We have a sacred duty to ensure accountability and transparency in the handling of the fund and the project,” Senator Adeleke stated.
The Assets Recovery Committee had submitted an interim report which revealed an ongoing large-scale pilfering of the procured loans while the project recorded no progress commesurating with reported expenditure.
According to the interim report of the Salami-led committee, the Islamic Development Bank agreed to fund the project to the tune of $65 million, while the Federal Government provided $41.94 million.
“So far, a total of $27.073 million has been expended from the IDB loan of $65 million, leaving a balance of the sum of $37.926 million.
“However, from the Federal Government loan of $41.94 million which the consultant had converted to N12 billion, the sum of N10 billion had been purportedly spent on the project, leaving a balance of N2 billion,” the report posited.
The committee noted that, despite the huge sums of $27.073 million and N10 billion of the state resources (repayable loans) already spent so far, the Ilesa Water Project is not yet functional and the good people of Ilesa are yet to access any water.
The recommendations of the committee, as endorsed by Governor Adeleke, are as follows: “The suspension of the consultant and the project coordinator with immediate effect;
“The government should take a second look at the process leading to the auctioning of the various water pipes across the state and the revenue which accrued therefrom;
“Given the enormity of the money involved in the Ilesa Water Project which are loans repayable by the Osun State Government both to IDB and the Federal Government, the execution of the project be probed with a view to ensuring that the state gets value for its money and that the loans are not diverted to private pockets;
“The N70 million bullet-proof project vehicle in possession of the consultant be immediately retrieved from her;
“The state government should reconcile the level of its financial exposure ($65 million and $41.94 million) on this project with other financial exposures of the state with a view to determining and/or ascertaining the total indebtedness of the state to both local and international creditors,” it was stated in the statement.
In another development, Governor Ademola Adeleke has ordered the immediate disbandment of the state’s Mining Joint Taskforce (JTF).
Consequently, the existing JTF was directed to hand over all government vehicles and documents in its possession to the Solid Minerals Committee.
The disbandment, as contained in another statement by his spokesperson, Mallam Olawale Rasheed, was in line with the governor’s drive to clean up the solid mineral sector.
As a follow up to the disbandment, the governor has further issued instruction for the reconstitution of the JTF, it was disclosed in the statement.
Governor Adeleke had, two weeks ago, announced far-reaching reforms of the solid mineral sector.
The reforms included stopping unauthorised mining, addressing challenges of mining-related environmental degradation and ensuring that the state gets its due return from the sector.
The governor had also set up a Solid Mineral Committee to look into activities of stakeholders within the sector.
This is with a view to put an end to revenue leakages, unauthorised appropriation of solid minerals and tackling increasing criminal activities around the mining communities.
“I consequently direct the chairman of the Solid Mineral Committee to take neccesary steps to ensure seamless transition from the old to the new JTF.
“The new team, when constituted, must operate with utmost professionalism with zero tolerance for misconduct,” Governor Adeleke directed.
