Bauchi to renovate Secretariat with N779m, supply electricity to 237 communities with N514m

39 years after it was commissioned for use, Bauchi State Government Secretariat named Abubakar Umar Secretariat has been declared as lacking a conducive environment not only for the civil servants to operate but also for the public to visit.

Consequently, the State Government, under the Sen Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir led PDP administration has approved the sum of N779.8 million for the complete renovation of the Secretariat in line with the current reality and modernization.

The disclosure was made by the Head of Service, Yahuza Adamu, who briefed journalists shortly after the State Executive Council (SEC) Meeting held late Friday night at the Government House in Bauchi.

Yahuza Adamu also said that the renovation became necessary because the secretariat which was constructed in three phases between 1983 and 2007, had not witnessed any form of reparation since then aside from some minor fixing and maintenance.

According to him, “the Council considered and approved the total renovation of the Abubakar Umar Secretariat, Bauchi, at the cost of N779.8 million.”

He explained that “The Secretariat was constructed in three phases: Phase one was constructed and commissioned during the first civilian administration of late Governor Abubakar Tatari Ali in 1983; phase two was constructed and commissioned by the administration of Ahmed Adamu Mu’azu in 2002, while phase three was constructed and commissioned in 2007 by the Isa Yuguda led administration.”

The HoS further noted that ever since then, the secretariat had never in any way whatsoever been maintained in terms of complete renovation or value addition.

He said that “the way it is now, the Secretariat constitutes a very serious security risk because there is no fence, so people move from end to end without any restriction. This informed the decision of His Excellency to award the contract and it was awarded in three slots”.

Yahuza Adamu explained that “Slot one is for the reconstruction of the secretariat itself – phase one, two and three, then the comprehensive repairs of the road network; the provision of electricity, and the maintenance of generators in the secretariat as well as the fencing and gatehouse.”

In the vein, the Commissioner of Power, Science and Technology, Maryam Garba Bagel, said that the Council had approved the sum of N319 million for the rehabilitation of inter-town power connections for 37 communities across the state.

The Commissioner noted that these communities had been without electricity for between two to ten years.

She also said that another approval of N195 million was given for the purchase of transformers and transformer accessories for 200 communities across the state in the effort to bring development down to the grassroots.

Maryam Garba Bagel said that “Part of approvals given at the Council included two from the Ministry of Power, Science and Technology; one of such approvals is for the rehabilitation of inter-town power connections for 37 communities across the state.”

She explained that “This is as a result of many requests we have received from these communities that have been without electricity for about two to ten years. Some of these communities had been cut off from electricity due to windstorms that they suffered during the past two administrations”.

“So, because of that, His Excellency graciously approved that these communities should be reconnected with the power lines,” she stated.

Maryam Bagel also noted that this was in line with the Governor’s campaign promises affirming that the project would be executed through direct labour by the Ministry in order to cut down expenses, going by the current high costs of electricity products.

She further disclosed that “Another approval granted by His Excellency is for the supply of transformers and their accessories to meet the demand by many communities. The ministry has received over 200 requests from many communities both urban and rural for these items.”

According to her, “His Excellency has, again, graciously approved the supply of such items in order to improve the social and economic situations of these communities. This would be done by two companies that were carefully selected from the seven companies that showed interest in the project”.

According to Maryam Bagel, the supply of the transformers and their accessories is set at the sum of N319 million, while that of the rehabilitation of the 37 communities is set at the sum of N195 million.

Earlier, the Commissioner of Information and Communications, Dayyabu Chiroma who coordinated the briefing had stressed that the Council took all the decisions in line with the promises made by the Governor aimed at making life easier for the people of the state.

The Commissioner assured that the administration will continue to work for the good of the people of the state till its last day in office.

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