By Umar Muhammad Puma Abuja
A lawmaker of the House of Reprsentatives, Rep Adamu Chika has accused officials of the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, of fraud in the execution of his zonal intervention projects.
Briefing journalists yesterday in Abuja Rep Chika who said in the 2016 and 2017 national budget, attracted water supply projects of N30 million naira in each of the years, and domiciled same in the Ministry, however expressed disappointment with the manner in which the projects were shabbily executed.
He also alleged that each the boreholes, which should not cost more than N600,000 were in 2016 executed at about N2.2 million each, saying even at that, all the bore holes collapsed, just weeks after they were said to have been completed. He confirmed that of the N60 million worth of projects in contention, the federal government separately cash-backed them to the tune of N42 million (N21 million in 2016, and N21 million in 2017), but that his people were left with nothing to show for it.
The lawmaker vowed not to return to the federal parliament, even in the face of mounting pressures, over feelings that the National Assembly has lost so much of public trust, he accused the ministry officials of sitting on his letter of complaint, personally written to the Minister, Mr. Babatunde Fashola.
“They want to short-change the system, and stink my name. Why should I not be given the right thing for my people?, the lawmaker lamented as he urged President Muhammadu Buhari to stop the blanket label of budget fraud against members of the National Assembly, and rather work to restructure the public service system, which he said is currently deeply involved in “stealing through documents”.
He said till date, he has not been able to lay hands on the bill of quantity for the said projects.
Asked whether he will take further steps to bring the contractors to book, Chika said he has told the world of the fraud perpetrated against his people, and that what was left was for the anti-graft agencies to swing into action.
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