FIJ
Solar streelights meant for the Katsina Senatorial District and funded by the Federal Government through the Energy Commission of Nigeria in May were installed inside the residence of Kabir Abdullahi Barkiya, the lawmaker representing the district in the Nigerian National Assembly.
This information was disclosed by Tracka, an open source project monitoring organization, on Sunday.
The Federal Government allocated funds in the 2023 budget for solar-powered streetlights in Katsina through various agencies, including the Ministry of Power and the Ministry of Science and Technology. The Ministry of Science and Technology allocated ₦120 million for new solar streetlights in the senatorial district.
The allocations for this project, however, in the 2023 budget did not specify any local government. It is therefore possible that more of the 12 local governments of the senatorial district, including Safana, Rimi, Dutsin-Ma, Jibia, Ma, Kaita, Batsari, Charanchi, Dan Musa, Kurfi and Batagarawa, could have benefited from the streetlights.
FIJ confirmed that a payment of N97 million (₦97,108,151.16) was made by the Energy Commission of Nigeria to an Aniset Integrated Limited for these solar street lights in May.
FIJ further gathered that the company had executed several other projects for the Federal Government in the the agric, education and water sectors. Most notably, the Ministry of Defence and the National Law Drug Enforcment Agencies made four different payments with no description to this company between 2019 and 2020.
Meanwhile, Tracka called for a thorough investigation by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC). The lawmaker may be violating Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices Act, which mandates a five-year imprisonment for office holders who use their positions for undue advantage.
Kabir Abdullahi Barkiya had previously been vocal about procurment violations on the floor of the senate. In 2019 for instance, he was one of lawmakers to criticise the Public Procurement Act of 2007 for aiding corruption in Nigeria because of its many loopholes.
THIS STORY FIRST APPEARED IN FIJ
