Group faults last minute contract awards by Gov. Abubakar
By Samuel Luka, Bauchi
A socio- political group known as Women Coalition for Sustainable Peace and Viable Democratic Gains has faulted attempts by the outgoing government in Bauchi state to award last minute contracts worth billions of Naira.
The group described the move as frivolous, wicked, unfair and an attempt to put the state in a difficult financial crisis by increasing the financial burden on the incoming administration.
Speaking to reporters at the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) state secretariat in Bauchi, the Leader of the group, Addaji Abdullahi flanked by their spokesperson, Fatima Muhammad and representatives of various women groups, further queried the decision of the state government to reinstate district and village heads sacked since 2015.
According to them, the plan by the government to award contracts through the State Universal Education Board (SUBEB) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) is suspicious and worrisome.
Addaji said “we want to caution the outgoing administration in the state against awarding frivolous contracts which may plunge the state into further financial quagmire. It won’t be in the path of honour to cripple the incoming administration through award of these contracts and loans without following due process.”
The women body further said that it will be good for the government to act with some sense of reasoning and within the ambit of the law and therefore, advised the government to exercise restraint by ensuring the state is not plunged into further debts.
“the concern of the Bauchi Women Coalition for Sustainable Peace and Viable Democratic Gains is hinged on the fact that with the level of indebtedness of Bauchi state, it will be unfair to further cripple the state by plunging it into additional debts when our civil servants are being owed 48 months leave grants, while many still have challenges in collecting their salaries,” Spokesperson for the group, Fatima added.
She said all the contracts awarded by the outgoing administration since inception, especially the Central Bank Roundabout – Federal Low Cost and the by-pass Road commissioned by President Buhari have not been completed.
She urged the governor -elect to investigate all the suspected fraud committed by the outgoing administration in order to save the state and its resources from been frittered away by the outgoing administration.
