Buhari told to sack Works Minister, Fashola over failed N1.2 trillion Mambilla power project in Taraba

President Muhammadu Buhari has been urged to sack the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, over recent revelations that despite a whooping budget of N1.2trn in five years for road construction, and the building of the Mambila Hydro Electricity Dam, both projects have failed woefully.

The President was also asked to prosecute Fashola as he has allegedly failed to justify the humongous fund disbursed to the power ministry during his time as minister.

President Buhari was further called to direct the auditing of funds disbursed to ministries under the Minister from 2016 to 2020, viz: N260.08bn in 2016, N107.38bn in 2017, N344bn in 2018, N280.44bn in 2019 and N169.88bn in 2020.

All Progressives Congress (APC) leader, Garus Gololo in Abuja on Friday made the call while bemoaning the abandonment of the 3, 050 Mega Watts power project facility four years after funds were disbursed for its construction.

He stressed that the N301. 257 billion electricity generating edifice which would have helped the country achieve its Vision 30:30:30 (30% renewable energy and 30GW capacity by 2030) would have also provided about 4.7 billion kWh of low-emissions electricity annually for the economy.

He said that the failure of the project and other infrastructural undertakings which were under the direct supervision of Fashola is an indication that the Minister’s “capacity to deliver is grossly overrated by the President.

Look at the various federal roads under him. For instance, of the 16 federal roads in Kwara State, 13 are in deplorable conditions, with the federal government through the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) and other relevant agencies collecting N271, 404,839.64; N58, 434,345.58 in March 2020, N104, 922,205.81 in December 2020, and N108, 048,288.25 in February 2020 of the total project award sum of N32 billion for the rehabilitation of the failed sections linking Bauchi-Gombe road; with nothing to show for it.”

Dr Gololo described the network of federal roads in the country “as death traps which Fashola supervised based on his incompetence.”

He called on the President to act fast and salvage the image of his administration which “has been bastardized by mismanagement caused by people like Fashola.”

This is as Gololo commended the President’s intervention in the Agriculture and Education sector “where he readily set a standard for performance when he eased out the Heads of these ministries.”