December 30, (THEWILL) – Gwale Local Government Area of Kano State has dissociated itself from a suit filed by the 44 Local Governments in the State at a Federal High Court in Abuja, challenging the use of their allocations by the State Government to jointly finance interchange flyover and underpass bridges in the state capital.
The Local Governments had asked the court to restrain the defendants, whether by themselves, their officers, servants, agents, privies, cronies or representatives from controlling, managing, further administering, disbursing and spending their funds and allocations in the Kano State Joint Local Government Account, pending the determination of their case.
The Acting Chairman of the Local Government, Alhaji Bashir Kassim Dandago, made the remark while addressing a news conference at the NUJ Press Centre, Kano, on Saturday.
“The Gwale Local Government Council is not part of the Court suit challenging the use of our financial allocations to finance the two interchange projects by the State Government, filed by the 44 Local Governments in the state, because we believe that the projects are meant to develop the state.
“Nobody consulted us on the reported court suit, as we only heard the rumour about a Court suit filed by the 44 Local Government Councils challenging the Government,” the acting Chairman said.
Flanked by six out of the ten Councillors of the Local Government, Dandago maintained that they were in total support of the State Government in constructing the bridges at Dan’Agundi and Tal’udu in the metropolis.
“We believe that these projects would immensely help in easing traffic and facilitating the movement of people and their goods in the state capital,” he said.
Our Correspondent recalls that Governor Abba Yusuf had on Friday, laid the foundation of the three-layer interchange bridge at Dan’agundi junction, and a clover leaf Overpass bridge at Tal’udu roundabout, all in Kano metropolis, worth N27 billion.
While laying the foundation, the Governor said the major projects were initiated to reduce traffic congestion, ease transportation, beautify the city, control pollution and develop infrastructure in the ancient city.
He said Kano, as a mega city, deserved massive infrastructure transformation to cater for the needs of the over ten million urban dwellers and improve the socio-economic well-being of residents of the city.
On the financing of the projects, the Governor explained that it had been the tradition of his predecessors to finance such gigantic projects through the joint account managed by the State Government and the Local Governments.
About the Author
Abdullahi Yusuf is a seasoned journalist, communicator and was previously the Deputy Editor-In-Chief and Zonal Manager, News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, Jos, where he retired on December 15, 2021
