BY RAYYANU BALA
Last week one civil rights group which goes by the name ‘Nasarawa Rights Protection and Promotion’ (NRPP) issued a statement condemning the intention of government of Nasarawa state to construct a new presidential lodge in Lafia. The group’s statement which was signed by one Alhaji Ayuba Mabo alleged among others, that the proposed construction of new presidential lodge ought not to be the priority of the present government which has less than five months to the end its tenure, saying that attention ought to have been focused on completion of all on-going projects scattered across the state.
The group further alleged that since inception of Al-makura’s administration, government had never come clean with the state’s finances. According to the NRPP, “the people of Nasarawa state had never known the true position of revenue generated internally, actual cost of all the contracts awarded by the government and how such contracts were awarded”, adding that the cost of all contracts so far awarded by the government since Al-makura assumed office has remained a secret known only to the governor
The group further averred that ‘’virtually all the contracts so far awarded by the present government did not pass a minimum standard of transparency” and that all the contracts awarded were in flagrant violations of due process as per the Public Procurement Act. They called on the government to publish cost of all contracts awarded in the state since the inception of this administration in 2011
While Nasarawa Rights Protection and Promotion (NRPP) has the right to hold and air their opinion and views on anything pertaining to the Al-makura-led administration, it must be pointed out that the group erred in its assumption that all the contracts awarded by the present government “did not pass a minimum standard of transparency” and that all the contracts were awarded in flagrant violations of due process.
To begin with, since Al-makura led administration came on board, it had focused on transparent and prudent management of state resources and due to its devotion to transparency and strict adherence to financial discipline, his government earned a commendation in 2013 from Transparency International Nigerian Office for coming third in ranking as the most budget disciplined state in Nigeria trailing behind Lagos and Kano. Right from the time Al-makura assumed office, accountability, prudent management of resources and fear of God has been the centre-piece of his government.
It is on record that all the contracts so far awarded by the present government and all the projects so far carried out through direct labour in the state followed all necessary processes before they were awarded or executed. It is to be noted that there is no single contract awarded by the present government that is shrouded in secrecy in terms of its cost. All contract awards go through the Ministry of Justice for signing of agreement papers and or for signing of memorandum of understanding in line with the statutory functions of the Ministry and before any contract is signed, the cost of such contract must be stated in the agreement paper or in the memorandum of understanding; thus it is sheer mischief for this rights group to insinuate that only the governor knows the actual cost of all the contracts the state awarded.
It is instructive to note also that the present government has never even in its wildest dream, violated any process in the award of contracts in the state. All contracts so far awarded by the present Al-makura led administration followed all due processes as laid out in financial regulations and also as laid out in Procurement Act. In fact it was due to his love for due process that he (Al-makura) established due process office and placed it directly under the office of the governor with top ranking staff heading the office in the capacity of senior special assistant.
On the proposed construction of new presidential lodge, anybody with complete knowledge of how government works can not object to construction of a new presidential lodge considering the dilapidated nature of the existing one along Shendam Road which due to its obsolete form has became unbefitting of a presidential lodge. Construction of a new presidential lodge would certainly add value to our image and reputation as a people in Nasarawa state.
Going by these baseless accusations, all well meaning individuals will be convinced that the Nasarawa Rights Protection and Promotion (NRPP) is only out to tarnish the good reputation which Governor Al-makura has built over the years through hard work, perseverance and the fear of God. For, all the records of what they are accusing Al-makura of are there at the relevant ministries and departments for anybody deeply concerned, to authenticate and scrutinize. Instead, they chose to malign a man who is doing his best at the expense of his health and comfort, to better the lives of the people of Nasarawa state.
All that this faceless group is insinuating in their statement are just nonsense and are also issues that have no bearing on the existence of the people of the state, thus all what they said against the person of Al-makura and his government can at best be described as appalling, irresponsible.
We are all living witnesses to the efforts this government is making towards curbing corruption and instilling culture of transparency in the management of resources of the state. Any discerning mind in Nasarawa state can for example, attest to the efforts Al-makura is making in curbing corruption and instilling culture of transparency in management of our resources when we cast our minds back to December 2017, when Governor Al-makura ordered the shutting off of all MDA’s accounts in the state over non-compliance with the directives to submit their accounts and other financial documents to the office of the Accountant General and also for their failure to refund all unspent monies as required by financial regulations.
Conversely, any government that is not serious about fighting corruption couldn’t have bothered itself about anything going on in its MDA’s to the extent of shutting off of accounts to check frauds in government finances just the way Al-makura led administration did. Similarly, any government not serious about curbing corruption and instilling transparency couldn’t have ordered termination of appointment of the Rector and two other senior officials of the State owned Polytechnic over financial embezzlements while also directed that the Rector and the two other officials to refund the sum of N2billion to the state’s coffers.
From these few examples, we can deduce that all the allegations about absence of transparency in awards of contracts under this present government were just sheer mischief since we can attest to the fact that this government is serious about fighting corruption. One thing that we are very sure of is that the sponsors of this faceless group would fail in their evil machinations. And they (sponsors) must also have it in their minds that ‘He who digs a pit for others will fall into it and whoever rolls a stone, it will come back on him’