Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has suspended the project consultant for the Ilesa water project, Tawa Williams, over alleged mismanagement of the project fund.
Olawale Rasheed, spokesperson of the governor, announced the suspension in a statement on Wednesday.
He said the suspension was on the recommendations of the Assets Recovery Panel after an investigation of the project.
Adeleke said the fund earmarked for the construction of the water project was from a total loan of $106 million obtained from the Islamic Development Bank and the Federal Government of Nigeria.
He said the IDB committed $65 million to the project while the federal government committed $41.94 million.
“According to the interim report of the Salami-led committee, the Islamic Development Bank agreed to fund the project to the tune of $65 million while the Federal Government provided $41.94 million,” he said.
“So far, a total of $27.073 million has been expended from the IDB loan of $65 million, leaving a balance of the sum of $37.926 million. However, from the Federal Government loan of $41.94 million which the Consultant had converted to N12 billion, the sum of N10 billion had been purportedly spent on the project, leaving a balance of N2 billion”, the governor added.
“The Committee noted that despite the huge sums of $27.073 million and N10 billion of the state resources (repayable loans) already spent so far, the Ilesa water project is not yet functional and the good people of Ilesa are yet to access any water,” he said
Mr Adeleke vowed to probe the project and ensure transparency and accountability in the dealings.
“My administration will dig into this matter with all seriousness. The huge funds in question are loans to be repaid. We have a sacred duty to ensure accountability and transparency in the handling of the fund and the project.”
Meanwhile, the governor also ordered the immediate disbandment of the state’s Mining Joint Task Force.
He directed members of the task force to hand over all government vehicles and documents in their possession to the committee on Solid Minerals.
Mr Adeleke, however, directed the committee, which he inaugurated, to constitute another joint task force for the mining sector.
” I consequently direct the Chairman of the Solid Mineral Committee to take necessary steps to ensure a seamless transition from the old to the new JTF. The new team when constituted must operate with utmost professionalism with zero tolerance for misconduct,” the governor said.
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