THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Sokoto State has accused Governor Ahmed Aliyu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) of contract inflation and reckless spending of public funds.
The state government has, however, described the allegation as propaganda.
In a statement signed by its publicity secretary, Hassan Sayinnawal, on Saturday, December 9, 2023, the party accused the Aliyu-led administration of handling public funds recklessly through inflated contracts in contravention of due process and standard financial procedures.
The “PDP wishes to raise a serious alarm over the increasing recklessness being displayed by the APC government in the state in the handling of public resources, through the award of grossly inflated contracts that are in defiance of due process and standard financial procedures.
“While Governor Ahmed Aliyu has, on the inception of his government, unilaterally awarded huge contracts with neither the approval of the executive council nor the participation of statutory ministries and departments, the costs of completed, ongoing and proposed projects are a clear indication of gross misappropriation of state resources.”
The party alleged that the state government spent N2 billion on street lights and N40 billion on roads less than two kilometres.
“Our party views as ridiculous, the spending of N292 million on the redecoration of three roundabouts in Sokoto, which have already been carried out by private companies in the state. So is the allocation of a whopping N1 billion to the purchase of a new fleet of limousines for Governor Ahmed Aliyu.”
The PDP called on the government to reconsider spending N800 million on the reconstruction of the Maiduguri Road by Eastern Byepass Road.
Reacting to the allegations, the state government, in a statement signed by its Commissioner for Information, Sambo Danchadi, described the PDP’s allegations as propaganda.
The government said, “The bone of contention in the press release is the amount of money the Ahmed Aliyu-led administration is spending in bringing back the lost glory of the good old days Sokoto was known for.
“Although the PDP in all ramifications has agreed and accepted that the APC has within the last six months changed the socio-economic face of the state, it is concerned about the huge spending on projects. There is an Igbo saying that ‘better soup na money make am.’ Therefore, quality work must surely cost so long as the people benefit from it as the end always justifies the means.”
He claimed that within 100 days the Ahmed Aliyu-led administration had spent in office, he had executed more road projects than the eight years of the PDP’s government headed by former Governor Aminu Tambuwal.
Justifying the contracts’ sums, the state government claimed they were affected by the exchange rate, adding that most of the materials needed for the projects were imported.
Nurudeen Akewushola is an investigative reporter and fact-checker with The ICIR. He believes courageous in-depth investigative reporting is the key to social justice, accountability and good governance in society. You can reach him via [email protected] and @NurudeenAkewus1 on Twitter.