Bauchi govt spends over N48.1bn on education, housing, others

THE Bauchi State Governor, Senator Bala Mohammed, on Friday, announced that his government had spent over N48.1 billion for the provision of infrastructure within five months in office.

He made this announcement while delivering his speech at a 3-day media retreat of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Minister’s Press Corps held in Bauchi State.

The infrastructure, according to him, is primary, secondary, non-formal and tertiary education, as well as housing and construction of roads.

Senator Mohammed, whose message was delivered by the Chief of Staff (CoS), Bauchi State Government House, Alhaji Abubakar Kari, said the government had injected about N10.8 billion on education, while N17.3 billion was also approved for the construction of 92.6 kilometers roads across the state.

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“In the area of health, the government has declared a state of emergency in the sector in order to improve healthcare delivery. We have also paid all counterpart funds to the Bill and Melinda Gates, Dangote Foundations and other development partners. More so, we have issued a standing order to all the 20 Local Government Areas to contribute 1% of their Internally Generated Revenues (IGR) to the Bauchi State health care trust fund. It is our intention to rehabilitate, renovate and equip all our health institutions within our meager resources.

“About 50% down payment has been paid and the completion period is between one year and a maximum of three years.” He stated.

“In the area of infrastructure, the government has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the execution of the Kujuru Solar Power Project at $100million, with the Kuwait government for the investment of up to $20OMillion. We have also signed the Gwana Cement Factory at the cost of $864 million with an American Investment with over N2 billion in CRS. We have also signed an agreement with Family Homes Funds for the provision of 2,500 housing units to be distributed across the state for a total cost of N15 Billion”.

Earlier, the Chairman of the Press Corps, Mr. Ikharo Attah urged journalists to always hold the government to account of what democracy is all about.