Some mega projects
worth billions of naira, which were initiated by previous governments in seven
states, have been abandoned by the current state governments.
The
Nation investigation reports:
Revelation
from Abia, Rivers, Niger, Ogun, Plateau, Bayelsa and Akwa Ibom states show that
the projects, abandoned at different levels of execution, are left to rot away,
even as some of them now harbour criminals, reptiles and other dangerous
animals. Most of the projects, we learnt, were initially financed through
loans, some of which are still being paid or serviced by the affected states.
For
example, the Monorail Project in Rivers State, which was conceived and began by
the former governor of the state, now Minister of Transportation,
Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, in his first tenure as governor in 2008, was
designed to cover 12 kilometres at the cost of ₦50 billion.
It
was however abandoned at the point of 2.6 kilometres when the former governor
completed his second tenure in office. Sources said the work already done as at
then, which was described as Phase 1A, gulped ₦33.9billion.
Since
Amaechi left office, the project has been abandoned as the current government,
led by Governor Nyesom Wike, has continuously exchanged hot words with the
former governor over the project. The current government has, for example,
alleged that the cost of the project, compared with similar projects in other
states, was outrageous.
In
Niger State, we learnt that at inception, the Minna Airport City Project was
estimated to cost a whopping US$600 million but when The Nation correspondent
visited the state Ministry of Works, Lands and Housing and the agency handling
the project to uncover how much has been expended on the project, no one was
ready to give out information about it.
Governor
Abubakar Sani Bello has however said pointedly that there were no resources in
the state now to complete such a project, insisting that the available
resources in the state will instead be channeled to other viable areas.
Another
mega project abandoned in the state is the Minna Hotel. The cost of the
construction of the five-star hotel was put at ₦19.6 billion. Although the
government had issued a bank guarantee of ₦1.4 billion and a land worth ₦400
million, The Nation observed that the hotel remains as it is since former
Governor Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu left office.
Bayelsa
International Hotel in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State and Enyimba International Hotel
in Aba, Abia State, have suffered similar fate. Our investigation confirmed
that although Bayelsa Hotel was one of the projects used by former governor
Timipre Sylva to secure a ₦50 billion loan from the capital market in December
2009, it is still an abandoned project. A report by the Financial Management
Review Committee, chaired by the former Managing Director, Niger Delta
Development Commission (NDDC), Timi Alaibe, shows that the cost of the project
was ₦13.9 billion. The report also showed that the project was rated 26 percent
completion when the bond was obtained. ”
For
Abia International Hotels, which was initiated by former governor Sam Mbakwe
government, over 38 years ago, we learnt that another US$25 million would be
needed to expand and complete it.
Jos
Main Market, another abandoned project, according to our sources, would need ₦5billion
to rebuild. But the state government said it does not have such money and
so has opted to engage investors under Private Public Partnership (PPP).
Some
of the state governments, who vowed not to touch the abandoned projects, said
they were mere elephant projects initiated by former government who may have
used them to siphon resources.
Original
estimated costs of the abandoned projects
*Rivers
Monorail – ₦50b
*Minna
Airport City – $600m
*Minna
five-star Hotel – ₦19.6b
*Abia
Int’l Hotel – ₦6b to complete * would need about $25m to expand
*Jos
Main Market – ₦5b to rebuild
*
Bayelsa Hotel – ₦13.9b
*
Ibom Tropicana – ₦33b
* Ibom Specialist Hospital
(completed but shut down) – ₦41b
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