Ibrahim Shuaibu in Kano
Following the release of schedule for the conduct of the January 16, 2021, local government council election in Kano State, the state government has approved the purchase of sensitive and non-sensitive materials with the sum of N2, 365, 469, 525.00 billion.
The state Commissioner for Information, Malam Muhammad Garba, told journalists yesterday in Kano that the State Executive Council has approved the revocation of contract awarded to Messrs Tiamin Multi-Services Global Limited for the rehabilitation and asphaltic overlay of Ahmadu Bello Way for non-performance and lack of timely completion of the project. According to him, the council has, therefore, approved the award of the contract for the project to Messrs Traiacta Nigeria Limited at the cost of N1, 240, 637, 737.50 billion.
Garba said so far, 15 per cent advance payment amounting to N84, 957, 172.88 million was released to the contractor while about 12 per cent progress was achieved.
He said following the reconciliation of account between the state government and the contractor’s engineer, a reconciliation certificate raised indicates a negative value of N11, 392, 124.88 million against the contractor and a balance of 10 per cent retention money amounting to N3, 006, 103.75 million in favour of the contractor pending the expiration of the ‘Defect Liability Period’.
Garba said the scope of the project comprises among others, site clearance, scarification of existing failed surfacing, excavation and removal of bituminous sections, fill material; demolition of failed ring culverts, box culverts and block work drainages; provision of sub-base and crush stone base, prime coat; and provision of asphaltic binder and wearing courses.
The commissioner also announced that with the resumption of schools, the council has approved the release of N169, 567, 990.06 million to the state Senior Secondary School Management Board to cater for nine weeks feeding, logistics and monitoring of students writing the National Examination Council (NECO) and the National Board for Arabic and Islamic Studies (NBAIS) examinations.
He said the number of students sitting for both NECO and NBAIS is 12,171, and will be fed for nine weeks during their stay in school at the cost of N1, 591.01 per head which translates to N161, 146, 990.6 million, and logistic and monitoring at N20, 000 multiply by 39 schools for nine weeks for NECO totaling N7, 020, 000.00 million, while that of NBAIS at N20, 000 for nine weeks stood at N9, 599, 722.06.
Garba pointed out that in the spirit of shared and collective responsibility in governance, the funds, as recommended by the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), would be shared between the state and local governments on a ratio of 55 per cent and 45 per cent, which translates to the sum of N1, 301, 008, 238.75 billion and N1, 064, 461, 286.25 billion respectively.
The commissioner revealed that the council has given approval for the elongation of the terminal Grade Level (GL) of Assistant Library Officer Cadre from GL13-14 and subsequent issuance of adoption circular on same by the office of the Head of Civil Service in keeping with the government commitment towards improving the condition of service and welfare of workforce.
He further stated that the council has approved the release of N37, 000, 000.00 million to the state Zoological and Wildlife Management Agency for the restocking of animals in the zoo.
The Kano Zoo, the only registered one by the Pan African Association of Zoos and Aquaria (PAAZAB) in 2007, is experiencing it animal collection facing dangers of old age, lack of pairing partners for some animals and inbreeding depression due to inability to restock for many years.
