- Civil societies to sue government, label water projects scam
BY TIMOTHY AGBOR, OSOGBO
With the worsening fuel crisis in Nigeria, various communities in Osun State will be responsible for purchasing fuel that will be used for the 332 generators the state government acquired to power the 332 boreholes constructed across all the wards in the state.
Findings by The Point revealed that residents within the communities hosting the boreholes would have to cater for the maintenance of the generating sets and also bear the costs of fixing them whenever they develop faults.
The state government said the 332 completed boreholes were emergency intervention projects to address the acute water shortage in the state, adding that it was already rehabilitating water works in major towns of the state to further provide more potable water for the citizens.
The spokesperson for Governor Ademola Adeleke, Olawale Rasheed, had disclosed that rehabilitation of water works at Ede, Iwo, Osogbo, Eko-Ende and others were already ongoing, adding that “Governor Adeleke adopted two approaches, namely the short-term interventions, which are the boreholes and the medium, and the long-term interventions, which include the rehabilitation of water works.”
“Across the 332 political wards in Osun, our people are accessing water supplies that, according to global standards, are expected to serve two million people,” he said.
After the construction of the boreholes, the state government acquired 332 generators that would power them.
At the official distribution of power-generating sets, held at the Secretariat, Osogbo, recently, Director of Water Sanitation and Environment, Olaoye Abayomi, explained that powering the boreholes with generators was cost-effective and sustainable, and that their local management would ensure durability and efficiency.
He called on the local management committee to be alive to its responsibilities, asking each community to take ownership of the borehole project.
Meanwhile, a coalition of civil society organisations in the state, the Osun Masterminds, flayed the state government for procuring generators to power boreholes in 21st century, notwithstanding the fuel crisis and without considering the environmental hazards such actions might create.
Describing the borehole projects as a scam, a member of the group, Ayo Ologun, posited that the projects would not be sustainable.
Ologun said, “This borehole issue started as a scam. We knew it and we raised the alarm. In this time and age, there is no sensible government that will be thinking of powering boreholes with generator, where we are talking about green evolution, zero emission and putting an end to gas flaring. Now, the government wants to power boreholes with generators without considering the emission trouble, without considering the environmental hazards, without even considering the cost of repair of the generators when they break down and the cost of fueling.
“The communities you provide boreholes for, you expect them to be the ones to fuel the generators and also contribute money to repair them when they break down. This is unsustainable. It is just a scam because they don’t even have up to the 332 boreholes they are claiming and the ones they even claimed to have been completed are not working. So, the people of the state should rise to demand accountability. The government cannot just be pilfering away the resources of the state all in the name of wanting to do what people want. You can provide water, alternatively for the people without going through the routes of sinking of boreholes that could cause earthquakes in the years to come and also cause environmental hazards.”
On the controversy surrounding the costs of the 332 projects, Ologun threatened that TOM would drag the Osun State government to court if it failed to come out clean on the exact amount used in constructing the boreholes and also acquiring the generating sets.
The All Progressives Congress in the state had claimed that the award of the construction of the boreholes was dubious, adding that each of the boreholes was sunk in each of all the 332 wards across the state at a cost of N14 million.
The party, in a statement by its spokesperson, Kola Olabisi, said, “The fact-check on the Adeleke borehole contract revealed that it was a scam meant to fleece the state as the borehole contract was given out for N2 million each while the remaining N12 million on each of the boreholes was pocketed by Adeleke.”
Meanwhile, Ologun said the coalition had requested for the details of the borehole projects and the cost by the state government through the Freedom of Information Bill (FOI Bill), insisting that it would resort to litigation against the government if answers were not provided.
“One of the aligning organisations under TOM, The Osun Masterminds, wrote a letter to the Osun State Government under the FOI bill and we requested that we should be furnished with the list of the borehole projects that they claimed to have done in the 332 wards. Part of the request is that we demand the cost per unit of each of the boreholes. We also demanded a proof of approval because if you could recall, there was no cabinet as at the time that project was executed.
“And of course, the law is clear that there is a limit to the amount of money that can be approved by the governor without approval in council. So, these were the issues that we raised and letters were forwarded to the governor and the SSG.
The office of the Head of Service was also copied, and if you are familiar with the FOI law, they have in the first instance, the first seven days to reply and of course, the law also provides for an extension of another seven days, making it 14 days.
“The 14 days, which they have to respond to that letter expired last week Friday (September 22) and for best reasons, we have decided to keep quiet and give them another few days which hopefully, they are most unlikely to be lucky. We have allowed government to get away with too many things as citizens and, at the end of the day, we are the ones that often cry foul because we don’t hold them to account. We have taken a survey before now and we confirmed in one of our press conferences where we dared them to respond to the fact that the 332 boreholes, which they claimed to have constructed, were non-existent. Even the ones they claimed to have been concluded were bringing out no water.
“We cited the examples of Osogbo and Olorunda Local Government Areas, among others. When they claimed we were lying, it was a month after that they brought generators which they claimed they wanted to use to power the boreholes. Anyway, we hope they give answers to the questions in the FOI request and if they don’t, the court shall be our meeting place by the grace of God,” he stated.
Justifying the choice of powering the boreholes with generators despite the hike in fuel price, the state Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Kolapo Alimi, said it was not too much for communities to fund the cost of the petrol and maintenance of the generating sets.
“It is for the communities to contribute for fueling the generating sets and also maintaining them whenever they develop faults. The communities will enjoy this water free of charge, so, it is not too much if they take care of buying the fuel for the generator and also maintaining it. Even abroad, no citizen expects to get everything from government, free of charge,” he said.
