Senator representing Kebbi West Senatorial District, Bala Ibn Na’Allah is in trouble as his constituent has protested the alleged conversion of a motoerised borehole project meant for his Zuru community into personal property by locating it in his compound thus denying the larger community access to the facility valued at N10m.
The Senator who sponsored the infamous Anti-Social Media Bill also incurred the wrath of his people for over the renovation of the Zuru hall for N155m, which they see as a misplaced priority. According to them, ‘there are more pressing needs that will sustain the youth in the community, they said. For example, if the N155 million was invested in their agriculture, the unemployment rate in their community would significantly reduce. This will also improve the living standard of the people, as the state is known as one of the largest producers of rice.
According to a report by TheCable ‘In June 2017, the project-tracking officer received a call from Zuru community members informing him of a motorised borehole constructed in the premise of Senator Ibn Na’Allah Bala. This facility was supposed to be for the community to put an end to water scarcity. They expressed dissatisfaction over the conversion of public property into personal use, thus depriving the residents of Zuru community access to potable water supply.
BudgIT’s Tracka team uncovered that the legislator diverted the said constituency projects to his personal use.
Tracka was established to address the critical issues with social and economic development in the country, such as the exclusion of citizens from developmental projects, the increasing number of abandoned projects, and poor execution of the few implemented projects.
The tracked projects include: complete renovation of Zuru Town Hall for N155m, supply of eight Toyota Hiace ambulances for Zuru, Yauri, Dankwo/Wasagu, Shanga, Sakaba, Fakai and Ngaski for N160m, provision of 71 motorised boreholes in each of the 71 wards in Kebbi South for N710m and provision of 41 hand pump boreholes in 41 wards of Zuru/Fakai/Sakaba/danko-Wasagu for N61.5m.
TheCable however reported that it could not reach the lawmaker for his reaction as calls put through to his telephone line indicated that it was out of reach.
