Findings revealed the names of contractors that received the payments from the Zamfara State government without carrying out the required jobs.
More information has emerged on payments made by the Zamfara State government under Governor Bello Mohammed Matawalle for projects across the 14 local government areas of the state, some of which have been abandoned.
The projects include the construction and furnishing of the Governor’s Lodge in each local government area which has gulped huge amounts of money which the projects on the ground cannot justify.
Findings revealed the names of contractors that received the payments from the Zamfara State government without carrying out the required jobs.
The amount earmarked and released for each local government differs, and the projects were shared among different contractors for execution. There were full payments made in some cases and over 90 per cent of payments were made to some contractors without the corresponding projects on the ground. For instance, some projects were abandoned halfway through in some local government areas.
A contractor, H3D International Concepts was paid the sum of two billion, one hundred and seventy-one million, three hundred and three thousand Naira (N2, 171, 303, 781.50) as consultancy service fee in respect of 147 dispensaries in the 14 Governor’s Lodges across the state.
SaharaReporters also learnt that the Zamfara State government has released the sum of one billion, five hundred and twenty-six million Naira (N1, 526, 000, 000) to a contractor, the owner of Bes Belmon Nigeria Limited to furnish the yet-to-be-completed Governor’s Lodges across the 14 local government areas.
For Maradun, which is the outgoing governor’s local government area, the sum of N118, 281, 150.00 was released to Zannah Kachalla World Link to complete the payment for the construction of the Governor's Lodge. Meanwhile, the project has not reached 70 per cent completion even though the total amount of the award has been removed from the state treasury.
Documents show that for Anka local government area, the outgoing governor approved the sum of N118, 281, 150.00 for the Governor’s Lodge in the area. The sum of N102, 313, 194.75 was released to the contractor, ERMANO Global Enterprise, with N15, 967, 955.25 outstanding.
Over 80 per cent of payment has been released to this project. But pictures from the site of the Governor’s Lodge in the Anka LGA show that work is not in the final stage of execution, let alone at the furnishing stage.
The contract for the construction of the Governor’s Lodge in the Kauran Namoda and Zurmi local government areas was awarded to SWAT Aga Constructions Nigeria Limited at the sum of N236, 562, 300.00 out of which the sum of N230, 648, 242.40 was released to the contractor.
The outstanding payment to be released to the contractor is N5, 914, 057.00. Yet, the pictures from the project sites in both local government areas show nothing near the final stage of execution despite over 90% disbursement of funds.
The same company Bes Belmon Nigeria Limited, which received over one billion (N1 billion) payment meant for the contract to furnish the yet-to-be-completed Governor’s Lodge, was awarded another contract to construct four Governor’s Lodges in Bungudu, Bakura, Talatar Mafara and Maru local government areas at the sum of N473,124,600.00. The sum of N461,296,485.50 was paid to Bes Belmon Nigeria Limited for the work.
The total outstanding payment is N11, 828, 114.50. The projects in these four local government areas were abandoned when filing this report.
The outgoing government awarded the contract to construct Governor’s Lodge in the Shinkafi local government to one A.G Almajir Multi-Dynamic Ltd. at the sum of N118, 281, 150.00. The sum of N115, 324, 121.25 was released to the contractor for the work. The outstanding amount to be paid is N2, 957, 028.75. Yet, the project has been on hold despite releasing over 90 per cent of the funds meant for it.
C.G.G.C Engineering Limited was awarded the contract to construct a Governor’s Lodge in the Gummi local government area. The total amount for the completion of the construction is N118, 281, 150.00 and the sum of N114, 732, 715.50 was released to the company as an initial payment for the project with N3, 548, 434.50 outstanding. The progress of the Governor’s Lodge project in Gummi has not advanced to 80 per cent completion and has been abandoned. Yet, over 80 per cent of payment has been made.
De Ludo Store Ltd. was awarded a contract for the total sum of N118, 281, 150.00 to construct the Governor’s Lodge in the Birnin Magaji local government area. The sum of N94, 624, 920.00 has been withdrawn from Zamfara State Treasury and equally released to the contractor. The outstanding payment is N23, 656, 230. 00 yet the project has been abandoned halfway.
In a similar vein, the government awarded a contract for a total sum of N236, 562, 300.00 to ‘Ruwan Dorawa’ for the construction of the Governor’s Lodge in the Bakura local government area. The sum of N167, 774, 654.73 has been released to the contractor. The remaining balance is N68, 787, 645.27. The project in Bakura is not halfway done and has already been abandoned.
Danguruf Pharmaceutical Limited has been awarded a contract for a total sum of N59, 141, 575. 00 to construct a Governor’s Lodge in the Bukkuyum local government area. The sum of N35, 608, 185.13 was withdrawn from the state treasury and released to the contractor. The outstanding sum for the project is N23, 533, 389.87 but it is yet to commence.
Ironically, in November 2021, Zamfara State House of Assembly drastically reduced the 2021 budget presented to the House by Matawalle due to low Internally Generated Revenue caused by the insecurity situation in the state.
In a statement, the Director-General, Press Affairs and Public Relations of the House, Mustafa Kaura said the budget was reduced from the initial N126.7 billion to N117. 5 billion.
In the first half of 2021, the state generated N8.4 billion internally.
The government said it projected to earn N11 billion as Internally-Generated Revenue (IGR) for the year 2022.