From Sola Ojo, Kaduna
A civil society group, Coalition of Associations for Leadership, Peace, Empowerment and Development (CALPED) on Saturday asked the Kaduna State Governor, Uba Sani, to publicly release the report of Sabiu Sani Committee’s report on the Status of roads in the State.
The Governor had four months ago precisely on June 26, 2023, approved the constitution of a committee to determine the status of all ongoing projects across the State.
Team Lead of CALPED in Kaduna, Mr. Yusuf Ishaku Goje in a document titled “Kaduna State: A call for the public release of Sabiu Sani committee’s report on status of roads”, argued that since the eight-man committee with four weeks mandate commenced work immediately, the report ought to have been in public domain by now.
Goje believed that the findings and recommendations of the committee’s report, for many others, would provide the foundation for the current administration’s road construction component of its rural transformation programme.
“However, over three months after, there seems to be no public record of the committee finalising and submitting its report. If there is, then it must have been ignored by the mainstream media”, he said.
According to the mandate of the committee, it had four weeks to determine the status of all ongoing projects across the state; get the details of contractual agreements/obligations; find out the funding arrangements and commitments of parties; find out the completion period of the projects; and come up with specific recommendations on each project.
The findings of the committee in line with its terms of reference will be key to addressing the huge road infrastructure deficit in the State.
Goje referred to the Kaduna State Infrastructure Master Plan (2018-2050) where it was stated that the State-owned roads comprised 2,133.59 kilometers, out of which only 49.20% (1,049.72km) are in a good state, 22.09% (471.25km) are in a fair state and 28.71% (612.63km) are in a poor state. Out of the total State roads, 66.87% (1,426.79km) are paved (AC/SD) while the remaining 33.13% (706.80km) is earth road.
Goje further noted that the plan also estimated a total of N8.09 trillion (N245 billion annually) will be required to address the road renovation, construction, and expansion envisaged in the State during the period.
“The Governor has gone on to kickstart the construction of rural roads under the RAAMP, among others. The question will be how much of the committee’s report recommendations, in case it has been finalised and submitted without public notice, informed the ongoing road constructions to ensure value for money.
“In the spirit of transparency and accountability, it is imperative for the committee’s report to be made public.
“This will enable residents of the State to know how monies invested in road construction, especially under the past administration, were utilised and what recommendations have been offered to improve the quality of service delivery.
This is because road infrastructure is key to the inclusive and sustainable socio-economic development of the State”, he added.