The Sokoto State Government has approved the awarding of contracts, revisions to some of them, and the spending of N5.8 billion on drilling equipment.
According to a breakdown of the funds, more than N4.5 billion will be used to repair roads and bridges that were damaged by floods roughly two years ago, and N520 million will be used to expand urban infrastructure projects.
The same sentence also mentions that N467 million will be used to purchase drilling supplies. A further N325 million has also been set aside for the modification of two contracts for rural infrastructure.
These were the outcomes of the state executive council meeting presided over by Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal on Tuesday, at which the council also deliberated on the field surveys currently being undertaken by experts in Goronyo and Kebbe local government areas where flood washed away roads and bridges with a view to awarding contracts for their reconstruction soonest.
According to a statement signed and made available to newsmen by the media adviser to the governor, Muhammad Bello, the roads are 66.8 kilometers Kagara-Goronyo; and 32 kilometers Kebbe-Tambuwal, in Goronyo and Kebbe Local Government Areas respectively.
The statement further disclosed that the state commissioner of rural development, Alhaji Isah Bajini Galadanchi, said the sum of N1.3 billion would be spent on the construction of Romon Sarki-Gawon Gulbi road and bridge washed away by flood in Tambuwal local government area.
An additional N3.5 billion was approved for the reconstruction of the Binji-Silame-Gande road; and Wurno- Huchi road, all of which had bridges washed away by flood.
Furthermore, the council also approved the provision of streetlights at the sites of the ongoing two flyovers being constructed by the state government at Runjin Sambo and Rijiyar Dorowa, within Sokoto metropolis, at the cost of over N109 million each. More streetlights proposed for the completed intra-city Waziri Abbas and Maituta roads will gulp N222 million and N80 million respectively.
Bajini added that the council approved the sum of N262 million as a variation for the hitherto awarded contract of N475 million for the 14 km Tsaki-Lambo-feeder road, which total cost now stands at over N738 million. There was also a variation of N63 million on the Kwanar Kimba-Zamau road which was initially awarded at the cost of over N262 million but will now gulp over N376 million.
The council has also approved the purchase of drilling materials to facilitate the operations of the state’s three functional rigs, used for drilling boreholes across the state, at the cost of over N467 million.
Meanwhile, the council has revoked the contract for the construction of Dange General Hospital abandoned by the contractor since its award in 2019, despite three variations of cost all fully paid by the state government.
Bajini, assisted during the press briefing by the Commissioner for Health, Dr Muhammad Ali Inname, Lands and Housing, Aminu Bala Bodinga, and Local Government, Abdullahi Maigwandu, explained that the state government took the decision because of the premium it places on the project as one of significance to the people of the area, emphasizing that it will soon be re-awarded to another contractor.