Osun State Governor, Sen. Ademola Adeleke, has ordered the immediate suspension of the project consultant for the Ilesa Water Project, Tawa Williams, over the circumstances surrounding the handling of $106 million loan for the project.

Adeleke also ordered a full-scale probe of the project and disbursed loans, saying there was no progress on the project despite the reported disbursement of N10 billion and another $28 million on the project.

This was contained in a statement made available to The Star on Wednesday by the governor’s spokesperson, Olawale Rasheed.

Governor Adeleke equally suspended the project coordinator to allow for unhindered review of the loan administration, while the consultant was directed to return the N70 million bulletproof jeep in her possession to the Osun State Government.

He noted that his directive was sequel to the interim report of the State’s Assets Recovery Committee chaired by Dr B.T. Salami which made recommendations for immediate action to stop further squandering of loans secured to execute the water project.

The governor further frowned at the large-scale corruption reflected in the handling of the loans and the project, stressing that the action denied the people of Ilesa, Osun State, and environs of drinkable water.

“My administration will dig into this matter with all seriousness. The huge fund in question are loans to be repaid. We have a sacred duty to ensure accountability and transparency in the handling of the fund and the project,” Adeleke stated.

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The Assets Recovery Committee had submitted an interim report which revealed ongoing large-scale pilfering of the procured loans while the project recorded no progress with the reported expenditure.

According to the interim report of the Salami-led committee, the Islamic Development Bank agreed to fund the project to the tune of $65 million while the Federal Government provided $41.94 million.

“So far, a total of $27.073 million has been expended from the IDB loan of $65 million, leaving a balance of the sum of $37.926 million. However, from the Federal Government loan of $41.94 million which the Consultant had converted to N12 billion, the sum of N10 billion had been purportedly spent on the project, leaving a balance of N2 billion,” the report said.

The committee noted that despite $27.073 million and N10 billion of the state resources (repayable loans) already spent so far, the Ilesa water project was not yet functional and the people of Ilesa were yet to access any water.

The recommendations of the committee which Governor Adeleke endorsed were: “The suspension of the Consultant and the Project Coordinator with immediate effect;

“The government should take a second look at the process leading to the auctioning of the various water pipes across the state and the revenue which accrued therefrom;

“Given the enormity of the money involved in the Ilesa Water Project which are loans repayable by the Osun State Government both to IDB and the Federal Government, the execution of the project be probed with a view to ensuring that the state gets value for its money and that the loans are not diverted to private pockets;

“The N70 million bullet-proof project vehicle in possession of the Consultant be immediately retrieved from her;

“The state government should reconcile the level of its financial exposure ($65 million and $41.94 million) on this project with other financial exposures of the state with a view to determining and/or ascertaining the total indebtedness of the state to both local and international creditors.”

The Star