Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State, receiving interim report of the Assets Recovery Committee chaired by Dr B.T. Salami, endorsed the recommendation for immediate halt to further misappropriation of loans for Ilesa Water Project, and ordered immediate suspension of the project consultant for the Water Project, Mrs Tawa Williams, including investigation of $106 million loan for the project.
The Governor, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mallam Olawale Rasheed, ordered full scale investigation of the entire project and the loans disbursed so far to the sum of N10 billion and another $28 million.
Governor Adeleke noted that the project coordinator was suspended to allow for unhindered review of the loan administration, as the Consultant was ordered to return a N70 million bullet proof jeep in her possession to the state government.
The governor lamented large scale corruption in the administration of the loans and the project, saying that this denied people of Ilesa and environs of drinkable water.
Governor Adeleke had declared: “My administration will dig into this matter with all seriousness. The huge fund in question are loans to be repaid. We have a sacred duty to ensure accountability and transparency in the handling of the fund and the project.”
The Assets Recovery Committee, in an interim report, indicated the detection of large scale pilfering of the procured loans, noting that the project did not make progress commensurate to the expenditure.
The interim report disclosed that the Islamic Development Bank agreed to fund the project to the tune of $65 million while the Federal Government provided $41.94 million.
According to the report, “So far, a total of $27.073 million has been expended from the IDB loan of $65 million, leaving a balance of the sum of $37.926 million. However, from the Federal Government loan of $41.94 million which the Consultant had converted to N12 billion, the sum of N10 billion had been purportedly spent on the project, leaving a balance of N2 billion.”
The Committee indicated that despite the huge sums of $27.073 million and N10 billion state resources, (repayable loans) spent so far, the Ilesa water project is not yet functional and the people of Ilesa are yet to access any water.
The recommendations of the committee include:
- The suspension of the Consultant and the Project Coordinator with immediate effect;
- The Government should take a second look at the process leading to the auctioning of the various water pipes across the state and the revenue which accrued therefrom;
- Given the enormity of the money involved in the Ilesa Water Project which are loans repayable by the Osun State Government both to IDB and the Federal Government, the execution of the project be probed with a view to ensuring that the state gets value for its money and that the loans are not diverted to private pockets;
- The N70 million bullet-proof project vehicle in possession of the Consultant be immediately retrieved from her;
- The State Government should reconcile the level of its financial exposure ($65 million and $41.94 million) on this project with other financial exposures of the state with a view to determining and/or ascertaining the total indebtedness of the state to both local and international creditors.