BY LINUS CHIBUIKE
THE Senate has approved President Muhammadu Buhari’s request to refund a total of N148,141,969,161.24 to four states.
The N148.14bn refund is for projects the affected states executed on behalf of the Federal Government.
The states include Ondo, Osun, Rivers, Bayelsa, and Cross River.
A report by the Committee on Local and Foreign Debts, chaired by Senator Clifford Ordia, had said, before the intervention of the beneficiary state governments, most of the federal highways in those states were in a deplorable state.
Ordia said the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing had inspected all the federal roads completed by the states, and the team, which undertook several visits, confirmed that “the quality of work done met the required standard.”
He pointed out that Cross River, Rivers, Bayelsa and Ondo states had commenced the execution of the highway projects since 2005.
The senator also stressed that the Bureau of Public Procurement had certified that due process was followed in executing the projects.
