Kano Commits N996.3bn To 1,557 Projects In Three Years

The Kano State Government has committed N996.29bn to 1,557 projects across the 44 local government areas of the state in nearly three years of the administration of Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf.

The Commissioner for Public Procurement, Projects Monitoring and Evaluation, Nura Maaji Sumaila, disclosed this on Sunday at an international press briefing on project implementation, geographical distribution, procurement compliance and financial performance.

Sumaila said 867 projects, representing 55.68 per cent, had been completed, while 654 projects, or 42 per cent, were ongoing. He added that 26 projects were at the award stage, while 10 others were ready for award.

According to him, N695.20bn of the cumulative contract value had received Certificates of No Objection approvals, while payment certificates worth N444.75bn had been vetted.

He said the NOC approvals represented 69.78 per cent of the total contract value, while vetted payments accounted for 44.64 per cent.

The commissioner said 598 projects valued at N299.36bn were located in the eight metropolitan LGAs, while 653 projects worth N287.90bn were spread across the 36 rural LGAs.

He said 37 cross-cutting projects valued at N159.50bn covered multiple LGAs, while 269 statewide and other projects accounted for N249.54bn.

Sumaila explained that the cross-cutting projects included road expansions, bridges, solar streetlights, traffic management systems and inter-LGA roads, warning that such projects should not be attributed to individual LGAs to avoid double counting.

Among the major projects, he listed the N113.19bn mass housing scheme at Rijiyar Gwangwan, Dawakin Kudu; N24.77bn Katsina Road expansion; N21.90bn Modern Cities infrastructure; N27.74bn Madobi-Yako-Kafin Maiyaki/Kiru Road and the N22bn Rural Model City housing project.

He, however, said some high-value projects, including the Dawakin Kudu mass housing and Rural Model City schemes, remained at the award stage pending completion of due-process procedures.

Sumaila assured citizens and development partners that the ministry would sustain procurement monitoring, payment certification and project evaluation to ensure value for money.

“Our responsibility is to ensure that every naira committed to public development is subjected to appropriate procurement procedures, monitoring and accountability,” he said.