The special assistant to President Tinubu on Political Matters, Ibrahim Masari, told a gathering in Katsina State that Governor Radda was behind the exchange of the Kankara-Dutinman-Katsina road contract for Zaria-Hunkuyi-Dabai-Gozaki-Kafur road contract because the contract was awarded to the wrong person.
Addressing a gathering which also had Governor Radda in attendance, the presidential aide claimed Radda facilitated the contract for the Zaria-Hunkuyi-Dabai-Gozaki-Kafur road, which covers communities in Kaduna and Katsina states.
He said “The Governor requested the President to cancel the existing contract and assign it to a different contractor capable of delivering a higher quality job,” Masari stated.
The N147.6bn contract for the full rehabilitation of the Katsina-Kankara-Dutsinma-Maraba Kankara road in Katsina State was awarded to an indigenous firm, Vipan Global Resources Limited, in April 2024 with a 24-month completion period.
After the firm, widely believed to be competent judging from its experience in road project delivery, mobilised to the site and commenced work spanning 10km without being paid mobilisation fees, the federal government abruptly cancelled the contract on July 16 and asked the firm to stop work.
The revelation by the special assistant to President Tinubu on Political Matters has sparked outrage among the Civil Society organisations, communities along the cancelled road project as well as road users saying the cancellation showed clearly that Governor Radda has no interest of the people at heart.
Some also faulted the claims by Masari that Radda facilitated the contract for the Zaria-Hunkuyi-Dabai-Gozaki-Kafur road, which covers communities in Kaduna and Katsina, recalling that the project was awarded before President Tinubu assumed office.
Secretary to Arewa Forum for Growth, Bello Bishir told journalists in Katsina that “The presidential aide’s claim that Governor Radda asked that the contract be cancelled because it was awarded to the wrong person, obviously referring to a PDP figure linked to the Firm handling the road project, was sheer rubbish,”
Meanwhile, Governor Dikko Radda had earlier told a gathering that he had met President Tinubu and made case for three federal road projects in the state which will commence soon.