The Zamfara State government has insisted that the immediate-past governor of the state, Bello Matawalle, mismanaged billions of naira allocated for the Gusau Cargo Airport project.
The state governor, Dauda Lawal, on Friday accused Mr Matawalle of embezzling over N11 billion meant for the airport project awarded to Avic International Engineering Limited.
But Mr Matawalle, who is the current minister of state for defence, denied the allegations.
In a statement by his former commissioner of information, Ibrahim Dosara, Mr Matawalle said the accusation was nothing but a calculated mischief and diversionary tactics of Mr Lawal.
“He specialises in diverting people’s attention from his insensitivity, failure, and inability to fulfil his campaign promises on tackling security concerns bedevilling the state immediately after his assumption of office,” Mr Matawalle said.
But in a counter statement issued Sunday by the spokesperson for the governor, Sulaiman Idris, the state government described the minister’s response as a “blatant violation of trust”.
Mr Idris, who also presented the payment receipts to the contractor, lamented that the bad financial status of the state was caused by the previous administration.
According to him, the former governor, in violation of due process, directed the ministry of Local Government to withdraw N1 billion from the Local Government Joint Account on October 25, 2021, and pay the sum of N825 million to the contractors without any valuation.
“The Zamfara State Government would ordinarily not respond to the issues, but as a responsible government, we feel compelled to provide the facts following his denial of the alleged embezzlement”, he said.
He added that the alleged embezzlement of public resources through the airport project was just a tiny part of many other acts of theft and financial recklessness committed through various incomplete projects.
The statement partly reads, “It is doubtful that the project cost was reduced from N28 billion to N11 billion in round figures. No reputable bidder would agree to a drastic reduction of 61% in cost without a corresponding reduction in the scope of work. This raises questions about the integrity of the bidding process. Matawalle is seemingly trying to cast doubt on the credibility of their contractor.
Mr Idris explained that the claimed by the former governor that the airport project was financed through what he called “contract financing” was false.
“The former governor should have asked before embarrassing himself. It is known as the ‘Contract Financing Facility (CFF)’, which happens between the bank and the contractor. The government isn’t involved at all. All available documents indicate that the contractors were paid using funds from the state government and not through the Contract Financing Facility CFF.
“Our records clearly show that the three payments made to the contractor were not based on an accurate assessment of the work done and certified by the supervising ministry.
“For the record, an initial advance payment was made to the contractors representing 30 percent of the total contract in the sum of N3,465,569,736.90 without the approval of the designs and bills of quantities of the project by relevant government departments on the 19th of June 2020, almost 11 months after the award.
“Throughout the period, nothing was done to certify the drawings, and bills and secure necessary approvals of relevant airport regulatory authorities.
“Only a few days after the initial payment, the government came up with new terminology in the contract and approved what it called ‘loan’ to the contractors in the sum of N2,310,379,824.60.
“This payment was referred to as a loan to the contractors when very little work had been done on-site”, Mr Bala said.
“Furthermore, a dual carriageway from the roundabout to the airport, drainage and gate have not been completed, contrary to the claim by Matawalle’s response. Also, the link road from the main road to the airport roundabout was an additional work the contractor was verbally and arbitrarily directed to execute. The Matawalle administration did not regularise this.
“The claim that the runway, taxi, Apron, terminal building, ‘water pool’ water reservoir, boreholes, cargo hall and fire service buildings are between 50-100 per cent completion is laughable.
“Matawalle should know that percentage progress is computed based on work done and subsisting contract drawings and bills of quantities and no other. A cursory look at the subsisting contract documents and site visits would reveal the lies and deception in the claims.
He said available records show that Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority NCAA, and Nigeria Airspace Management Agency, NAMA, were only involved in the project after it had already begun, which goes against the standard practice in the aviation industry.
The spokesman also denied the former governor’s claim that the projects was 50 percent completed.
“It was reported as 30 per cent completed, equivalent to N3.47 billion. This raises the question of why the contractor was paid the sum of N6.78 billion,” he added.
He stressed that Mr Lawal’s administration is not making any false claims against his predecessor, noting that the public would soon learn about the mass looting under the previous administration.
