The Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Prince Clem Agba, has reacted to the controversy surrounding the stormwater projects in Benin City and the threat of probe by Edo state Governor Godwin Obaseki.
In a letter to Governor Obaseki, dated February 26, 2021, which he personally signed, Prince Agba, who is a Minister in President Muhammadu Buhari’s government, expressed surprise that N30 billion is being peddled as expenditure on the project.
Recall that the state government in a public announcement had said: “You can see for yourself that the so called stormwater project was a fraud. They have to explain how they spent the N30 billion on a project they claimed would drain water from a community. Clearly, we will take necessary precaution to recover all the money due to Edo people that was stolen from this project.”
In the letter, the Minister faulted the claim, saying that it is not “only false, but also outlandishly erroneous, misleading and patently mischievous.
He reminded Governor Obaseki that as “As the then Chairman of the Edo State Economic Team, you were privy to the conception, planning, execution and expenditure on the project.”
Prince Agba posited that “only the sum of N22 billion had been paid to the contractor for seventy percent of the project delivered before you took over as governor and that by virtue of a resolution by the State Executive Council, the Commissioner for Finance was mandated to make payments directly to contractors for all projects of the Government.
“I was therefore surprised at your decision to call me out on the expenditure of N30 billion on the Benin Stormwater project knowing fully well that I neither expended such money, nor did I have any mandate to authorise payments as the funds were not domiciled in the Ministry of Environment.
The letter is reproduced below:
My Dear Brother-in-Law and Excellency,
UNNECESSARY CONTROVERSY ON THE BENIN CITY STORMWATER PROJECTS
I write in response to your recent public statements and references to my person in respect of the above subject and the consequent calls by friends and other stakeholders who feel concerned about what they see as an orchestrated and well-oiled campaign of calumny calculated to embarrass me and impugn my unblemished public service to my dear State of Edo and the Nation. I share their position.
I resolved not to embark on any public engagement with you as doing so will certainly escalate the matter and cause avoidable media offensives which in my view, could distract both of us from the burden of leadership and our official mandates. However, sustained social and other media invectives on my person have necessitated that I do not stand back and allow my hard-earned reputation to be assailed for no justifiable reasons. This is why I have chosen this private medium to reach out to you and copy critical stakeholders.
By the grace of divine choice as leaders, we are elders to whom our people look up for example and mentorship in virtue and in character. It is not expected in our culture for elders to engage in public spats. I do not wish to denigrate the cultural values of our people, which include mutual respect by elders. As a much older person and the number one citizen of Edo State, I do not wish to be part of any engagement or scheme that could tar your reputation or diminish your public esteem, which is underpinned by the courtesy of: “Your Excellency”. The above restraints, notwithstanding, I am not unaware that the resolve of your government to call me out, though on shaky grounds, might have been triggered by my recent call on His Royal majesty, Oba Ewuare II, to implore your government not to abandon the Benin Stormwater Project.
You will recall that the project is part of the long-term Stormwater Master Plan for the State, which demands the commitment of successive administrations for implementation. My decision to call on His Royal Majesty to prevail on your government to sustain the project was in good faith. It was not meant to denigrate your person or government, but rather it was motivated by my passionate love for Edo state. Recall that shortly after your swearing in about five years ago, I sent you a series of WhatsApp messages on the need to continue periodic de-siltation of the drains to ensure that the drains are not blocked and consequently de-flood Benin City for which there was neither a response nor action from you. This, I did believing that we are on the same page on the question of love for Edo State and, therefore, rather than yield to the rash of ill-motivated counsel of crises entrepreneurs and discord peddlers within and without, you should appreciate my call for royal intervention in that context.
Further to the foregoing, I was also taken aback by the N30 billion you peddled as expenditure on the project. You know, and I dare say without any fear of contradiction, that this is not only false, but also outlandishly erroneous, misleading and patently mischievous. As the then Chairman of the Edo State Economic Team, you were privy to the conception, planning, execution and expenditure on the project.
Also, Your Excellency cannot claim to not know that only the sum of N22 billion had been paid to the contractor for seventy percent of the project delivered before you took over as governor and that by virtue of a resolution by the State Executive Council, the Commissioner for Finance was mandated to make payments directly to contractors for all projects of the Government. I was therefore surprised at your decision to call me out on the expenditure of N30 billion on the Benin Stormwater project knowing fully well that I neither expended such money, nor did I have any mandate to authorise payments as rhe funds were not domiciled in the Ministry of Environment.
It is strange that you raised the question of fraud on the project against me knowing very well that my role as Commissioner for Environment and that of Commissioner of Works, Osarodion Ogie, who incidentally is the current Secretary to Government of Edo State, was limited to only supervision as this was a joint project between the two ministries. Two other persons, Anselm Ojezua and Frank Evbuomwan, the current Managing Director of Edo State Geographic Information Service, also served as Commissioner of Works at different times and were involved in the supervision of the same project.
For the purpose of clarity, the Stormwater Project has, embedded in its contracts, not only side drains, underground drains but also single and dual carriage roads with walkways and street lights. This project was conceived as a legacy of our State government, a memorable one to the Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Erediauwa and drew the admiration of our sustainable development-oriented President. I recall that on the 7th of November, 2016, just days to your swearing in, you stood proudly beside Mr President, His Excellency, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, as he applauded the administration’s team behind the conceptualisation, design and execution of the Benin stormwater whist commissioning a segment of the Uwelu East and West Stormwater project, which is the 6-lane Siluko Road (Teacher’s House) a flood challenged area that had persisted for over twenty years to which people had lost their lives and property.
Therefore, it is in bad taste and a mark of dishonour to suddenly disown and declare the Stormwater Project a fraud. A project that you campaigned with on two occasions: first, with the All Progressives Congress and, second, with the opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party. How and who were the parties to defraud on this signature project? I recall the words and prayers of the President during the inauguration of the project: “I am very impressed with the professional description by the Commissioner, how he has done the drainage and how he has done the road to make it last. This shows great commitment and God Almighty will reward you for your good intentions and for your love for your constituency.”
Except for the intent at mischief, you have access to the true facts about the project and the expenditure thus far. Besides your silence on the extent and magnitude of the project, the sum of N8 billion, which was outstanding on the project was inherited by your government. With the expected commitment on your part, you had adequate financial resources to sustain the momentum on the project. The current sorry state of the project is therefore inexplicable and raises concerns about the negative impact of the abandoned stormwater project on the wellbeing of our people.
While you may have some reservations about the manner of my intervention in the issue with His Royal Majesty, I do not think it should provoke a public fight. Recall that In October 2020, in obedience to the directives of Mr President for Ministers to visit their States and meet with Stakeholders, I wrote to you of my intention to first meet with you before other stakeholders, but you did not grant me audience but referred me to your deputy who, upon my arrival in Edo State, postponed the meeting to the week after. At that point, I proceeded to honour my appointment with His Royal Majesty and the Benin Traditional Council. As father to all, His Royal Majesty is an institution and a non-partisan symbolic representative of the people of Edo State. He deserves to be informed of the state of affairs in Edo. He is the person that receives the tears of the people. The tears will certainly abound when the rains come, without the drains in place.
Recall also your Excellency that you warned Traditional Rulers in the other two Senatorial districts not to meet with me in defiance of the Presidential assignment I came for. They were with deposition if they defied your directive. As Minister in charge of National Planning, you agree with me, that interface with you and critical stakeholders, would have enabled Mr President to appreciate the critical needs of our people and how the central government could intervene. I have been having such interface with other States. Certainly, our people deserve something better than inexplicable and unproductive strife.
In your pronouncements, you made a veiled reference to my person as “that one who calls himself a Minister” and further went to identify me as said minister stating, “This was a project supervised by Clem Agba.” This is unnecessary, uncalled for and diminishing of the exalted office you hold. Your Excellency should not be associated with such a statement, which is not only disparaging of my person, the husband of your younger sister but also derogatory of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, who appointed me and the National Assembly who screened me and approved my appointment as a Minister in the Federation.
Let us, therefore, eschew prejudices, strife and bitterness and get down to work. While it remains within the purview of your executive and discretionary powers to make enquiries, let it not be a decoy to distract attention of the people when the consequences of the abandoned stormwater project and other programmes begin to show as the rains begin to pour.
Your Excellency, please rest assured that I wholeheartedly welcome and support your widely publicised decision to institute a probe panel to look into the Stormwater project, though you have already assumed the roles of the accuser, prosecutor and judge on the issue. It is a welcome development as all Ministries, Consultants and all other participants in the project would have an opportunity to state their own side of the story for posterity’s sake.
I make bold to say that I am proud of the role the Ministry of Environment played in the stormwater project and I am always available to defend my role as the Commissioner of the Ministry on this and any other project that I handled in the course of my service to Edo people.
Please accept the assurances of my warmest regards.
Prince Clem Ikanade Agba
Honourable Minister of State for Budget and National Planning.
26th February, 2021.
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Closure Of Mirnga Market And Agitation So Far! By Musa Salihu Kachallah
On behalf of the good people and law abiding citizens of Mirnga District, I write to appeal to the government of Borno State under the leadership of a selfless leader our amiable Governor Professor Babagana Umara Zulum the Executive Governor of Borno State to call the attention of the present Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru to in the name of almighty Allah as a matter of urgency to reopen Mirnga Market that was shutdown by the Military for close to 3 years under the guise that some suspected elements of Boko Haram terrorist do visit the market to shop for their daily need to resume for business activities.
Though we are not in anyway disputing the intelligence gathered by the Military authority in this regards, but I can categorically said without missing words that since the beginning of this Boko Haram crisis in North East Nigeria no single Boko Haram fighter was ever seen or arrested in Mirnga town or in the market the records are there for everybody to see but our market remained close for this unjustified reasons.
Your excellency sir, as you know Mirnga District is a peaceful Community full of people with integrity and positive thoughts as well as willing businessmen and women who are ever ready to struggle to earn money legitemately but this singular action of the military authority has plunged many families into poverty and lacking as our Fathers, Mothers, Brothers and Sisters who carryout petty trades are gradually loosing their means of survival and it is going to be irrational if the market further remains closed.
Sir, I want you to see reasons for ordering the reopening of the market bcoz millions of your subjects are continually loosing their means of livelihood for this act as you can see many people today cannot afford to care for their families anymore especially our energetic grain bag loader known as (Yan’Dako), Wheelbarrow pushers, Water Vendors and many more who feeds from my hands to mouths bcos until they go out for this activities before they earn some money but theirs means of survival has been thwart.
Furthermore, it may interest you to note that Mirnga Market is the central market that connects people from far and near like businessmen from Adamawa, Gombe and Yobe States respectively as well as our neighborhood like Biu, Damboa, Sabon-Gari, Mandaragirau, Gunda, Bumsa, Madlau, Buratai to mention but a few but this primitive decisions by the Army is not taken with a second thought or weigh the multiplying effect before closing the market for flimsy reasons that can be controlled because we all know closing of Mirnga Market will not in anyway hinder Boko Haram logistics as they have many ways of getting stuffs, so why suffering our people unnecessarily.
In conclusion sir, we are begging you to please in the name of almighty Allah to investigate the rational/motive behind closing our Market and order for reopening as soon as possible. I write this appeal with dismay because as we speak now all the markets that was closed along with Mirnga market that time from Biu Main Market down to Yadi-Buni Market all have resumed operation in full activities but for Mirnga Market reversed is the case and despite the attacks on Buni-Yadi, Buratai and others by Boko Haram terrorists in the past yet their market was open for commercial activities but Mirnga that had never has any and is relatively peaceful our market remained closed why? .
Finally, sir we are praying to Almighty Allah to grant you good health, guide and protect you and to give you more wisdom to discharge your duties with just to all sundry as you always justify in your governance.