Plateau State Governor Elect Rejects N15bn New Govt House

Plateau State, Governor-elect Simon Lalong has said he will not work from the new Government House in Jos, the state capital.
The governor-elect said the N15 billion property had not been completed, adding that he does not need such luxury to serve the people.
He said: “I am not going to occupy an uncompleted building as a government house. In any case, I don’t need such a house to work for the people of Plateau State.
“In serving Plateau people, I don’t need a luxury office. I’d rather prefer people of the state live in luxury homes with all social services provided. So, I don’t think a new government house is a priority of Plateau people. I don’t need such an office to serve my people.
“I was told that new government house has cost over N15 billion and it is still uncompleted. I can’t live in such an office when Plateau people have no water to drink, children are not going to school, civil servants are not paid, there is no medical care in rural areas and most villages have no roads. So, I don’t need such capital-intensive government house. Such a project amounts to a misapplication of scarce fund.”
Lalong said his administration would review uncompleted projects left by the outgoing Jonah Jang administration before completing them.
Jang had urged the incoming administration to complete ongoing projects before starting new ones.
But Lalong said: “I am going to complete all ongoing projects I am going to inherit. But I will have to review them and know the cost implication. The abandoned projects are numerous. I have to review all of them. I need to know which contractor is involved and how much has been spent so far on each of the projects.
“Governor Jang has claimed he is leaving a debt of over N8 billion for me, excluding the N28 billion bond he collected before the election. Then, he is owing the civil servants at least seven months of unpaid salaries and unquantified workers’ allowances and pensioners’ funds.
“On all these financial liabilities, I am going to set up a committee to review them and advise government accordingly.”
Also yesterday, the state chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) prevented Jang from inaugurating some projects for non-payment of workers’ salary.
The governor was billed to inaugurate a radio station at the Jos Campus of the State Polytechnic.
The aggrieved workers barricaded the entrance to the newly-built Revenue House of the State Internal Revenue Service.
A spokesman for the workers, Mr Paul Dakogal, who is also the Chairman of the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (SSAN), said: “It is inappropriate for Jang to inaugurate any project. Governor Jang did not contribute any resource in facilitating the project. How then can he inaugurate it?
“When we heard that the governor planned to inaugurate a radio station, among other projects in the state, despite the workers’ strike, we decided to stop that nonsense.
“He has not paid workers for more than a year and students are at home because of strike. Yet, he intended to inaugurate projects.”
Dakojal recalled that for four years, the polytechnic could only produce two sets of graduates.
Dakojal said the Education sector in Plateau had deteriorated in the past eight years.