No road built in Kogi worth the refund of N10b from FG, says Achuba

Simon Achuba

Immediate past Deputy Governor of Kogi State, Simon Achuba, has said that there is no road built in the state that is worth the refund of N10 billion from the federal government.

Achuba said this in an interview with Punch on Friday.



President Muhammadu Buhari had requested for the approval of the Senate for the Federal Government to pay Kogi State Government N10.069 billion.

The president explained that the money was to settle contractual obligations by the Kogi State Government from unspecified Federal Government projects it executed on behalf of the Federal Government.




But when asked to react on the sum of N10 billion as refund for money spent on the construction of federal roads in the state Achuba said, "Show me the roads that were constructed in any part of the state. You are in Kogi, have you seen any such road? What then is the refund for?"

Meanwhile, Kogi Elders Assembly (KOESSA), Concerned Kogi Citizens (CKC), Forum of Former Kogi Political Officer Holders (FOKOPO) and Kogi Advancement Project (KAPRO), had accused President Muhammadu Buhari of promoting corruption in Kogi state.


They said that paying N10.069 billion to the Kogi state government close to the governorship election is an attempt to commit electoral fraud in the state.

The groups maintained that the President was merely trying to fuel electoral fraud in the state by seeking to get the money refunded close to gubernatorial election.



The groups demanded details of the federal government projects executed by the state government, wondering if those included the numerous federal and state roads that are in worse condition as had never been in the history of the state.

“We also would like to know if the projects affected the health sector, education, sports, technology, water resources, or if it was to renovate private or public property, as there is no evidence of any construction site in the state where such an amount of money could have been spent,” Bello and Adejoh stated.