Kwara Gentlemen’s Club Queries N6b water Reticulation Project

A civil society organization based in Ilorin the headquarters of Kwara State has re-echoed the concerns of the citizens over the 6 billion Naira Former Governors Bukola Saraki and AbdulFatah Ahmed’s administration claimed was expended on water reticulation within Ilorin metropolis to provide potable water for all households in the capital city.

It will be recalled that the previous administrations in Kwara state was reported to have spent over 6 billion Naira to carry out maintenance works on the damaged pipelines and construction of new water channels that will connect households in the city centers from the mains of the Kwara State Waterworks under the Water Reticulation Scheme.

Four years after the project was initiated, Kwarans can neither access the clean water that was promised to them for which such a huge amount of money was spent. This has raised eyebrows amongst citizens, political activists and several other civil society organizations who have expressed concern over possible diversion of the fund by the governments of Saraki and Ahmed whose claim of their administration spending quite a fortune on channelisation of reticulation due to the construction of the diamond underpass at Geri Alimi has been thrown into unfavorable side of the court of public opinion by Kwarans.

Prior to 2019, supply of clean water for domestic and industrial use to households and industrial layouts in the state capital had stopped with residents resorting to buying water from wheelbarrow pushers and water tanks that sold water for domestic use at exorbitant prices.

It is imperative to note that the Former Governor AbdulFatah Ahmed who was and still remains a political protégé to Bukola Saraki accessed funds after taking over from his political godfather who applied for the loans for water projects.

The group is appealing to the current administration not to allow the 6 billion Naira to go down the drain, noting that the AbdulRazaq administration has demonstrated unwavering commitment to ensuring that all households in the state capital and even beyond have access to clean water.