In 2019, a lawmaker who had served in the Kano State House of Assembly since 2007, Labaran Abdul Madari, influenced the award of a school construction and furnishing project to his firm; he thereafter lied that part of the project he executed with the contract fund were his donations.
According to a report published by The ICIR, the Kano state government, under its Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, awarded a contract for the construction of a one-block Islamiyya classroom type E in Katarkawa, Warawa LGA to a company, Kwore Nigeria Limited at the sum of over N6.7 million.
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Findings by The ICIR revealed that Madari is the Beneficial Owner of Kwore Nigeria Limited, which violates the Public Procurement Act (PPA) of 2007, a law governing procurement processes in the country.
The report established that undue influence was applied in securing the contract, as 16 of the 19 contracts for constituency projects awarded by the ministry for Warawa Local Government Area (LGA) in 2019 went to Kwore Nigeria Limited.
Despite violating existing laws, the desks provided by Kwore Nigeria Limited had “Donated by Hon Labaran Abdul Madari” imprinted on them, suggesting that the furniture was free donations by the lawmaker rather than a constituency project funded by the government.
Contraventions of both the PPA 2007 and the State Public Procurement Law of 2021 by other lawmakers and contactors in Kano are adversely affecting residents and threatening students’ access to education.
Children learn under dangerous structures with roofs threatening to cave in and, sometimes, are at risk of abduction or accidents due to the absence of perimeter fences around the buildings, despite the award of contacts and disbursement of funds to address these issues.
For instance, the Kano State Ministry of Works, Housing, and Transport in 2019 awarded a contract worth over N7.5 million each for the construction of classroom buildings with an office and a store to improve learning conditions in the Government Senior Secondary School (GSSS), Dundun Primary School, Ajingi and Falankawar Gafasa Primary School, Ajingi.
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The contract was awarded to Danyarimawa Synergy Global. Findings revealed that the company, owned by a lawmaker in the Kano State House of Assembly, Abdulaziz Garba Gafasa, abandoned the school project until August 2023.
Sometimes, political leaders in Kano award contracts to ghost companies while citizens suffer from lacking basic amenities.
In August, The ICIR reported that other lawmakers in Kano touted projects donated by charity foundations, including the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), as theirs.
Member of the Kano State House of Assembly representing Kunchi/Tsanyawa constituency Garba Yau Gwarmai had a contract of N1.4 million awarded to his company Safnaj Synergy WorldWide for the construction of a borehole in his LGA in 2019.
This story was originally published on International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR).