The Minister of Works, Housing and Power, Babatunde Fashola, has blamed the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for abandoning Federal Government projects across the country.
Speaking to media while inspecting the building of federal secretariat in Awka, Anambra on Monday, Fashola described corruption under the administration of PDP as monumental.
He said, “They looted our collective destiny, prospects, jobs and so on. That’s why the masses are suffering today. That’s why there are no jobs. But we (APC) are trying to bring back smiles on the faces of Nigerians.”
The minister gave assurances that the 18-kilometer Umunya axis of the Onitsha/Enugu Expressway would be completed in May 2019, while the Federal Secretariat, Awka, the state capital, would be completed in the first quarter of 2019.
Fashola hinted that President Muhammadu Buhari‘s administration inherited the projects because past governments failed to complete them as a result of corruption.
The minister said, “They awarded the contract without paying contractors and when you don’t pay contractors, you create problems down the labour ladder.
“For instance, the contract for this federal secretariat was awarded in 2012 by the previous administration without making funds available for its completion. If the money meant for it was not stolen, it would have been completed before now.”
“We are bringing back what was denied the people in the past to them; that’s the difference between a development administration and a corrupt regime.”
Completion of Zik Mausoleum not to gain Igbo favour
During an inspection visit to Anambra on Monday, the former Lagos State governor also debunked rumours making rounds that the completion of the Nnamdi Azikiwe Mausoluem by the present administration was to gain political favour from the Igbos.
He said the current administration decided to work on the mausoleum as a mark of honour to the late sage after successive administrations had abandoned the project.
