Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, approved the release of N1.9billion as part of funds for the construction of a flyover at Ganaja Junction in Lokoja main town but there is absolutely nothing to show for the project more than three years after, SaharaReporters can confirm.
Documents seen by SaharaReporters show that the exact money released by Bello in 2016 was N1,869,777,457 billion for the “mobilisation of construction workers”. However, after Valued Added Tax (VAT), it amounted to N1,589,310,830 billion.
The documents show that the overall cost of the project is N4,674,443,644 billion, meaning the N1.8billion released by the Governor was enough to at least kick-start the project. However, a resident of the area told SaharaReporters that not for once had any contractor showed up to even dig up a hole.
“You mean the Governor awarded a contract to construct a bridge around here?” the resident asked, befuddled. “That cannot be true. I’ve been here since 2015 and I’ve never seen a cntractor show up to do anything.”
The Ganaja Flyover bridge project was inaugurated by Captain Idris Wada, former Governor of the state, in the final days of his tenure in January 2016, with a plea to the contractor, TEC Engineering Nigeria Limited, to deliver it in 18 months as planned.
A source very familiar with Kogi politics told SaharaReporters that the project would not be done, neither in the final months of Bellos’s tenure nor in the next four years should he see the reflection.
“Definitely TEC Engineering Nigeria Limited was only used to get the money out; the state government must have collected it back, otherwise no contractor gets paid N1.6billion without whoring up to begin work.”
Below are pictures of Ganaja Junction where the flyover ought to be lying by now, plus the documents:
