By Tayo Joseph Lagos
The Niger State House of Assembly on Tuesday passed a resolution suspending the elected chairman and councillors of Mashegu Local Government over alleged unruly conduct.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the House passed the resolution after it deliberated on the interim report of an oversight visit to the 25 Local Governments by the committee on Local Government Matters.
Presenting the report, chairman of the committee, Abdulmalik Kabir (Paikoro/APC) had said that while in Mashegu, his committee observed that handlers of the Kawo-Mashegu road construction project did not adhere to specification.
“In view of the importance of the road and considering the huge amount of N386 million sank into it, the committee took a passionate interest in ensuring that a quality was done.
“After a careful inspection of the work done so far, we observed that the contractor did not adhere strictly to the engineering design.
“The width, in some areas, was short by 1.9 metres, making it impossible for two cars to pass freely.
“Culverts were also skipped and drains were not available to channel water,” he explained.
Kabir said that the committee thereafter recommended that the contractor should go back to the site and effect corrections in line with the engineering designs agreed upon.
According to him, it was at that point that the council chairman, Alhaji Saidu Kaboji, stood up and told the contractor that the lawmakers, and not him, had asked the handler to stop the work even though the money was not theirs (legislators).
He said that the chairman and the councillors thereafter walked out on the lawmakers.
“Some of the councillors said unprintable things to the committee members while walking out, while others even hurled pebbles at us,” he said.
The lawmaker said that the committee considered the action of the council officials as a mark of disrespect to the House and a threat to the constitutional duty of the legislators.
The House, thereafter, unanimously resolved to set up a five-man committee headed by Mr Malik Bosso, (Bosso, APC) to investigate the action of the local government council members, and report back in eight weeks.
It maintained that the council shall remain suspended for the period of the investigation.
