The Sokoto State Government has approved the awarding of contracts, variations of some of them, and the spending of N5.8 billion on drilling equipment.
According to a breakdown of the funds, more than N4.5 billion will be used to repair roads and bridges that were damaged by floods roughly two years ago, and N520 million will be used to expand urban infrastructure projects.
Also, N467 million will be used to purchase drilling supplies and a further N325 million has also been set aside for the modification of two contracts for rural infrastructure.
These were the conclusions reached at the state executive council meeting on Tuesday, presided over by Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal. The council also discussed the field surveys being conducted by experts in the local governments of Goronyo and Kebbe where floods destroyed roads and bridges with the goal of awarding contracts for their reconstruction as soon as possible.
According to a statement signed by the governor’s media adviser, Muhammad Bello, and made available to newsmen, the roads, in the Goronyo and Kebbe Local Government Areas, respectively, are 66.8 kilometers Kagara-Goronyo and 32 kilometers Kebbe-Tambuwal.
The statement also stated that the construction of the Romon Sarki-Gawon Gulbi road and bridge, which were destroyed by flooding in the Tambuwal local government area, will cost N1.3 billion, according to the state commissioner for rural development, Alhaji Isah Bajini Galadanchi.
The rebuilding of the Wurno-Huchi road and the Binji-Silame-Gande road, both of which had bridges swept away by flooding, will each cost an additional N3.5 billion.
The council also approved the installation of lighting at the locations of the two flyovers that are currently being built by the state government at Runjin Sambo and Rijiyar Dorowa, both of which are located within the Sokoto metropolis, at a cost of more than N109 million each. The proposed additional streetlights for the finished intra-city Waziri Abbas and Maituta roads will cost N222 million and N80 million respectively.
According to Bajini, the council accepted a N262 million variation for the previously awarded N475 million contract for the 14 km Tsaki-Lambo feeder road, bringing the total cost to more than N738 million. On the Kwanar Kimba-Zamau road, which was originally granted at a cost of more than N262 million but will now cost more than N376 million, there was also a change of N63 million.
The council has also given the go-ahead to spend more than N467 million on drilling supplies to help the state’s three operational rigs, which are used to drill boreholes all throughout the state.
Despite three cost variations that were all completely funded by the state government, the council has terminated the contract for the building of Dange General Hospital that the contractor had abandoned since it was awarded in 2019.
Bajini explained that the state government made the decision because it values the project as one that is important to the people of the area, stressing that it will soon be re-awarded to another contractor. He was assisted during the press briefing by the Commissioners for Health, Dr. Muhammad Ali Inname, Lands and Housing, Aminu Bala Bodinga, and Local Government, Abdullahi Maigwandu.
