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John Adams, Minna
The Niger State government has reacted to the allegation by Governor Abubakar Sani Bello misappropriated N1.4 billion meant for the five state hotel in Minna initiated by ex-Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu.
A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mary Noel Berge, yesterday, described the allegation as misleading and an attempt to win the sympathy of the people for the Peoples Democratic Party ahead of the November 30 local government elections.
The former governor during his 64th birthday celebrations last week in Minna alleged that he left N1.4 billion behind for the Minna international five start hotel.
The money, the former governor said, was left in the “Escro account” of the state for disbursement to contractors by installments as work progressed.
“To my surprise, the contractor was invited by this government and given the whole amount, and after two months, the contractor disappeared from site and has not returned to finish the job. The government that invited and paid the contractor should be asked to account for the money,” Aliyu said.
Berge, in a statement expressed dismay that despite the respect accorded the ex-governor, he would allow partisan politics to becloud his sense of judgment to spread falsehood against the government.
Berge said the balance of the escrow account established in respect of the five star hotel held at Zenith Bank Plc is N1,478,451,706.96 and had not been tampered with.
“The present administration has, therefore, not released any money to any contractor as alleged by the former governor. Our records also indicate that the said contractor is, in fact, a supposed investor that is expected to be largely implementing the project from his own resources under a Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) agreement.
“We, therefore, invite all stakeholders to crosscheck this position from either Zenith Bank Plc or Niger State Ministry of Finance. It could have been more honorable for the former governor to do his home well before dishing out falsehood against the government.”
The allegation by ex-governor Aliyu is coming barely three weeks after he accused Governor Bello of diverting $181 million Islamic Development Bank (IDB) for the dualisation of Minna-Bida highway.
