Nigeria as many already know has suffered the consequences of corruption for so many years, so much so the conversation during the last elections was almost based on who’d best fight corruption. One Governor who is living up to the billing is the reform minded Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State. He has opened the state to the private sector and introduced reforms into the state’s civil service. In a fresh effort to recoup much needed resources, the state government is now renegotiating over bloated contracts awarded by the previous administration.
The Kaduna State Government has saved over N1.1bn on the Kawo Road contract. This was announced by Hassan Usman Mahmud, the Commissioner of Works, Housing and Transport, at a press briefing after the weekly Executive Council meeting.
Mahmud said the saving was achieved following a renegotiation of the contract that was awarded by the previous government in December 2014 to Mothercatat the sum of N3.685bn. The contract was to expand the 5.125 kilometre road from Kawo flyover to the Lugard Hall roundabout. “Following the review of the project, the contract sum was reduced to N2.504bn,” Mahmud confirmed.
The commissioner further disclosed that the State Executive Council has approved the new contract sum, and welcomed the efforts of the government team in saving N1.1bn for the state.
The Kaduna State Government had in September 2015 ordered suspension of work on the Kawo Road contract to enable a thorough review of the rates and the scope of work on the project.