Taraba State Governor Darius Ishaku says the Federal Government owes the state government the sum of N47billion for road projects in the state.
Governor Ishaku made the claims in Abuja when he appeared on Channels Television’s Hard Copy.
“We have tarred Federal Government roads (with) over N47billion which has not been refunded,” he said during the programme which aired on Friday.
“My predecessor did most of them and I am continuing with some of them.”
The governor decried the lack of proper connections between Taraba and neighbouring states in the northern region of the country.
He also expressed reservations about the construction of the 3,050 megawatts Mambilla Hydropower Project approved by the Federal Executive Council.
The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, had told State House correspondents in Abuja on August 30 that the scope of works of the project would include the construction of four dams and 700 kilometres of transmission lines.
Ishaku, however, said: “As I am talking to you now, even the place where they want to build the hydropower project, there is no connection of roads or any facility there.”
“First of all for you to get into the state, there has to be a connection and now, when you get into the state there have to be connections to other places.”
The governor commended the approval of the project as a wonderful step taken by President Muhammadu Buhari and urged the Federal Government to provide more support for the state.
He was also hopeful that siting the power project in Taraba would improve the state’s economy and create more jobs for the people.
“I must sincerely thank Mr President for doing that. We are very grateful indeed for Mr President standing firm to do this hydropower station; 3,050MW is a lot of power that would go to Nigerians.
“I cannot quantify its (impacts) – in all manifestations, it’s going to impact positively in terms of employment. Of course, generation of power alone, you can be sure that a lot of industries will move there because there will be constant power; so it’s an attraction,” Ishaku said.
