Immediate past Deputy Governor of Kogi State, Simon Achuba, has said that there is no road built in the state that is worth the refund of N10 billion from the federal government.
Achuba said this in an interview with Punch on
Friday.
President Muhammadu Buhari had requested for the
approval of the Senate for the Federal Government
to pay Kogi State Government N10.069 billion.
The president explained that the money was to
settle contractual obligations by the Kogi State
Government from unspecified Federal Government
projects it executed on behalf of the Federal
Government.
But when asked to react on the sum of N10 billion
as refund for money spent on the construction of
federal roads in the state Achuba said,
“Show me
the roads that were constructed in any part of the
state. You are in Kogi, have you seen any such
road? What then is the refund for?”
Meanwhile, Kogi Elders Assembly (KOESSA),
Concerned Kogi Citizens (CKC), Forum of Former
Kogi Political Officer Holders (FOKOPO) and Kogi
Advancement Project (KAPRO), had accused
President Muhammadu Buhari of promoting corruption in Kogi state.
They said that paying N10.069 billion to the Kogi
state government close to the governorship election
is an attempt to commit electoral fraud in the state.
The groups maintained that the President was
merely trying to fuel electoral fraud in the state by
seeking to get the money refunded close to
gubernatorial election.
The groups demanded details of the federal
government projects executed by the state
government, wondering if those included the
numerous federal and state roads that are in worse
condition as had never been in the history of the state.
“We also would like to know if the projects affected
the health sector, education, sports, technology,
water resources, or if it was to renovate private or
public property, as there is no evidence of any
construction site in the state where such an amount
of money could have been spent,”
Bello and Adejoh
stated.
Young-po Reporters 