The Niger state Governor, Sani Bello and the Senator representing Niger East, David Umaru, were recently at loggerheads over rehabilitation of Piggery road in Minna.
DAILY NIGERIAN reports that the rehabilitation was a federal project facilitated by Mr Umaru but the governor ordered contractors handling the project to stop works immediately, a development that angered the Senator.
In a press briefing on Monday in Minna, Mr Umaru lambasted the government for stopping the constituency project meant to benefit the residents of the area.
The lawmaker criticised the administration of Mr Bello for playing bitter politics with the project which was initiated to benefit the community.
“I am surprised that the state government that is talking about developing the state appeared to be development shy.
“I am yet to come to terms with the brazen attack by the government on this road development coming to the state.
“However, let me state categorically that the state government does not have powers to stop the work,” he said.
However, DAILY NIGERIAN gathered that when the project was awarded by the Federal Ministry of Works, Housing and Transport, the Permanent Secretary in the state ministry, Umar Bawa, in a letter dated May 2 2018, complained that the project was not given prior approval and requested that work should stop immediately.
It was also gathered that, despite responses from the federal ministry of works, power, housing, the state government refused all entreaties, insisting on enforcing the stop work order.
Meanwhile, the face-off between the Mr Umaru, Governor Bello is now over as the state’s Commissioner for Works, Ibrahim Balarabe, said that the senator had officially written to the ministry describing the whole incident “as an oversight”.
Mr Balarabe, who spoke with newsmen on Tuesday in Minna, pointed out that, “we have therefore removed the stop work order.”
However, the commissioner said the government had a problem with the specification of the projects, “which is surface dressing whereas the policy of government as far as township roads are concerned is for asphalt overlay”.
“We budgeted N900 million for one of the roads this year but the federal government wants to spend N20 million,” the commissioner said.
Mr Balarabe said the state government would continue with the job from wherever point the federal government stopped.
