Staff of the Kaduna State Water Corporation, KADSWAC, have commended Governor Uba Sani for his magnanimity to clear the backlog of their N800 million salary arrears.
Speaking to journalists, some of the staff members, who did not want their names published, noted that the non-payment of their salaries preceded the current administration.
They said Mr Sani could have chosen to sweep the matter under the carpet but his decision to address the issue once and for all, “he has shown that he has the milk of human kindness in him”.
Also speaking, another staffer who simply identified herself as Hajiya Hadiza said: “Judging from his policies and programmes, Governor Uba Sani has demonstrated that he has the plight of workers and the common man at heart”.
“His rural transformation programme and the revamping of the education sector, as well as healthcare show that he is a people’s Governor,” Mrs Hadiza added.
Recall that the Commissioner of Public Works and Infrastructure, Ibrahim Hamza, had revealed that the governor directed payment of salary backlog of KADSWAC staff in four tranches.
Mr Hamza, who made this known at a press briefing on Wednesday, also disclosed that staff of KADSWAC would be put back on the state’s payroll, till 2027 when the corporation must have fully stabilised to run as a commercial entity.
The commissioner recalled that the governor had earlier declared a state of emergency in the water sector three months ago, which resulted in the appointment of Kabir Rufai as substantive Managing Director of KADSWAC.
He further disclosed that N93 billion would be invested in KADSWAC in four installments, starting with N17 billion this year, adding that N35 billion will be invested next year, while N30 billion will be invested in 2026 and N11 billion will be invested in 2027.
Mr Hamza further disclosed that, “the previous administrations invested $500 million into the urban water supply scheme in the last 10 years with no result.
‘’Rather, capacity utilisation dropped down from 43% in 2017 to 8% in 2023 with 5% coverage,’’ he added.
