The Commissioner of Water Resources in Sokoto State, Alhaji Yusuf Mohammed Maccido, has said that Governor Ahmed Aliyu is determined to complete the 40 million gallons per day water project and deliver a quality water supply to the state’s people.
Maccido, who disclosed this in an interview with journalists in Sokoto, said the water project initiated by the Senator Aliyu Wamakko administration was 70 per cent completed by 2015.
He regretted that the succeeding administration abandoned and worsened the water problem in the state.
Alhaji Maccido said that the completion of the project would further help address the acute shortage of water supply in the Sokoto metropolis and its environs.
According to him, Governor Aliyu has demonstrated seriousness in resolving the water problem, given the benefits to the people and the enormous taxpayers’ funds already utilised in executing the project.
“The 40 million gallons per day water project was initiated by our father, Senator Aliyu Wamakko, during his administration. As of the time he left the office, the project was 70 per cent completed.
“Unfortunately, the Aminu Tambuwal administration that came after him abandoned the project during the eight years it held sway.
“Governor Ahmed Sokoto has rightly decided to complete the multi-million project because completing it will surely go a long way in addressing the lingering water shortage the metropolis and environment are experiencing,” he said
Besides completing the project, Maccido said that Governor Aliyu would expand the water supply to the newly developed areas in the capital and the rural areas.
“The other project is the expansion of water supply to the new areas of the capital that are developing; as you know, Sokoto is expanding, and there is a need to service these new areas.
“I saw a newspaper report that the former administration of Aminu Waziri Tambuwal awarded the contract to a Chinese company for the water supply to the people and the construction of 40 million gallons of water per day.
“He never completed the project. Unlike Tambuwal, who abandoned every project he inherited, Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto’s administration has continued with the projects he inherited because it will help ensure a constant water supply for the people.
“So we are completing the projects that he started, which Tambuwal abandoned for no reason. This is why I am very angry with the officials of the Aminu Tambuwal administration for criticising this administration when they achieved absolutely nothing.
“Quote me, that administration was a disaster. He was a big flop, so he lost in 2019,” he said.
Maccido also decried Tambuwal’s promise to build houses for the state’s people, which he said was not fulfilled.
“But Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto has completed the 500 housing units started by our father and leader Wamakko and commenced the construction of another 500 housing units, bringing to a total of 1,000 houses completed in under one and a half years.
“And remember, he bought some houses from the federal government. So, Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto’s administration is different from the inept administration of Aminu Tambuwal.
“Governor Ahmad Aliyu Sokoto is focused, responsible, and God-fearing, which is why he has achieved in under two years what Tambuwal couldn’t achieve in eight years,” he noted.