Concerns mount over disbursement of El-Rufai’s $350m World Bank loan in Kaduna
Not few stakeholders in Kaduna State have continued to voice out their concerns over the alleged uneven disbursement of the $350m World Bank loan secured by the immediate past administration of the state under the leadership of ex-Governor Nasir El-Rufai....READ ORIGINAL & FULL CONTENT FROM SOURCE |
Said to be most hit by the alleged injustice occasioned by the uneven disbursement of the loan are 12 local government areas in the state.
These council areas have been identified to be left in the lurch, years after the much-touted Urban Renewal Road projects initiated by the immediate past administration of ex-Governor Nasir El-Rufai took off.
Arewa PUNCH investigations revealed that despite the continued repayment of the $350 million World Bank loan secured under El-Rufai’s government, not a single kilometre of road has been said to have been completed in the affected LGAs, some of which are among the poorest in the state.
Field investigations and corroborated testimonies from community leaders and government insiders point to widespread neglect in areas such as Birnin Gwari, Giwa, Ikara, Jaba, Kagarko, Kajuru, Kauru, Kudan, Makarfi, Sanga, Soba, and Zangon Kataf.
Arewa PUNCH sources further alleged that the projects in these LGAs either never took off beyond the flag-off stage or were outrightly abandoned shortly after the groundbreaking ceremonies.
Unimpressed by the outcome of the situation, several civil society groups and opposition lawmakers in the state have raised concerns over the opaque manner in which the loan was managed, especially in relation to equitable distribution of infrastructure.
Comrade Phelimon Andrew, a transparency advocate based in Zango-Kataf, called for a legislative audit of the Urban Renewal Programme.
“We can’t keep taking loans for political PR. The communities have the right to know where every dollar went,” he said.
Our correspondent reports that although the World Bank facility was secured to fund El-Rufai’s flagship Urban Renewal Programme, said to be an ambitious infrastructural plan meant to modernise urban and rural Kaduna State, however, the execution has remained lopsided.
The residents, while expressing their frustrations over the current state of the abandoned Urban Renewal Road Projects, lamented that the initiative now lies in various stages of disrepair, disrupting livelihood and daily commuting.
“This road was supposed to be completed under El-Rufai’s administration years ago,” said Musa Yakubu, an okada rider in Sabo Tasha, “Now, it’s just a dust trap in the dry season and a muddy mess during the rains,” Yakubu bemoaned, adding, “we spend more money fixing our vehicles than making profit.”
Gimbiya Musa, a shop owner near the uncompleted stretch of road around Television Garage to Sabo Tasha bridge, also lamented the significant drop in patronage.
“Ever since the road was dug up and abandoned, customers now avoid this area. Business has dropped by more than 50 per cent. We were excited at first, but now, it feels like they just forgot us.”
Residents of Kauru, too, have voiced out their concerns. “We see abandoned construction equipment every day, rusting by the roadside. It’s a constant reminder of a broken promise,” said Ezekiel Haruna, a community leader.
“Children now play on half-graded roads, and people have started throwing waste into open drains that were meant to relieve stormwater,” observed another resident in Zitti Village in the Zango Kataf Local Government Area.
For many, the unfinished roadworks have become a symbol of neglect. “El-Rufai gave us hope that Kaduna would be transformed,” said Fatima Bello, a school teacher, “But what we were left with were potholes, traffic jams, and dust storms,” she pointed out.
“This present administration of Uba Sani must probe the previous administration of Nasir el-Rufai to tell Kaduna State citizens the truth about what happened to the $350 million World Bank loan that it secured,” Garba Habibu from Birning Gwari declared.
A top government source in one of the ministries directly involved in projects, but who does not want his name in print for fear of a possible attack or sanction alleged that while the Kaduna North reportedly benefitted from nearly 76 per cent of the projects, residents in the South and Central senatorial zones were left with incomplete and deteriorating roadways.
Similarly, a youth leader in Kaura, who asked not to be named for fear of reprisal, also queried what he termed as the injustice in the uneven disbursement of the loan.
“This is not just about bad governance. It is about injustice. How can we be paying back a loan and have nothing to show for it?”
He pointed out that among the most glaring cases is the Yarbwan-Kafanchan road, among others, which were initially designed as a signature project to boost connectivity into Southern Kaduna and which construction began with much fanfare but has since been stalled, “leaving commuters stranded during rainy seasons and sight of local businesses bearing the brunt of a failed promise.”
In Birnin Gwari, an area plagued by banditry and poor infrastructure, residents informed Arewa PUNCH that the road projects would have significantly eased movement and enhanced security if completed.
Another senior source within the Kaduna Government House, who equally spoke under the condition of anonymity, confirmed that “no single project initiated by the El-Rufai administration reached completion stage” in the listed LGAs.
“Some areas didn’t even have the contractors mobilised. All the attention were on projects that had media visibility within the Kaduna metropolis,” the official disclosed.
Meanwhile, community leaders from the neglected LGAs are calling for immediate government intervention, warning that continued neglect may fuel further social discontent.
Efforts by our correspondent to get a response from the current administration of Governor Uba Sani were unsuccessful as calls and messages to key officials in the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure were not returned as at press time.