The Zamfara State Government has reaffirmed its resolve to revoke any contract that is not executed in line with approved bills, specifications, and quality standards.
The State Commissioner for Housing and Urban Development, Alhaji Nasiru Ibrahim Zurmi, stated this while speaking with journalists shortly after inspecting several ongoing and abandoned projects in Gusau, the state capital awarded by the administration of Governor Dauda Lawal
According to Nasiru Zurmi, the government has previously revoked contracts that failed to meet required standards and reassigned them to more competent contractors who delivered better results.
“We don’t bother at all. We have done that before. There are contracts we decided to revoke and awarded to other companies, and they did a better job,” he said.
Zurmi emphasized that, since public funds are involved, the government will not compromise on quality or accountability.
“As far as this is public money, we don’t owe anybody any apology to revoke any project. Most of the contractors we deal with know our standard. We don’t compromise quality,” he added.
Alhaji Nasiru Ibrahim Zurmi further noted that, the present administration only awards contracts when funds are fully available to complete them, assuring that, no contractor handling projects in the state is owed payment.
“This government does not award contracts when we don’t have money to finish them from beginning to end. I challenge any contractor handling projects in this state, nobody will tell you he has issues of payment. Once a certificate is submitted, payment is made promptly,” Zurmi said.
The commissioner explained that, regular project monitoring is necessary to ensure compliance, adding that government intervention becomes necessary whenever contractors fall short of expectations.
During the inspection, Zurmi visited two major projects at the Federal University Gusau, including an abandoned project of one story building of 8 class rooms which was initiated by the previous administration but left unfinished for nearly a decade, and a new project awarded by the current administration for building offices.
While expressing satisfaction with the quality of work on the new project, the commissioner said some observations were made and communicated to the contractor, who promised to address them promptly.
On the abandoned structure, Zurmi revealed that the ministry had ordered an integrity test to ascertain the safety of the building before completion.
“That building was abandoned for almost ten years. The first thing expected is to conduct an integrity test of the structure. We are waiting for the report to ensure that completing the project will not put lives at risk,” he explained.
He also raised safety concerns over the building’s design, particularly the presence of only one staircase despite the expected number of students and classrooms, recommending the construction of two additional staircases subject to the outcome of the integrity test.
The commissioner also inspected a truck and trailer park project, described it as critical to the administration’s urban development and security strategy.
“Because of security concerns, we had to site this project within the city. Considering the increasing number of trailers and tankers parking along roads at night, we needed a safe and organized parking facility,” Zurmi said.
He disclosed that the project, with a six-month completion timeline, is expected to be delivered in the last quarter of the year, adding that the contractor has fully mobilized to the site.
Zurmi further inspected renovation works at facilities under the Zamfara State Housing Corporation and the Rural Electrification Agency (REA), where he expressed dissatisfaction with incomplete renovation details such as missing tiles and interlocks.
“Renovation should be 100 percent. You don’t just paint and leave. If some items were not captured in the bill, the contractor should formally write to the ministry for consideration,” he directed.
He assured that all observations had been communicated to the contractors, who pledged to improve the quality of their work.
Alhaji Nasiru Ibrahim Zurmi urged all contractors handling projects in Zamfara State to strictly adhere to approved standards, assuring them of the government’s readiness to resolve genuine challenges through continuous engagement and monitoring.
The Project sites visited by the Commissioner are FUGUS sites, Trailer park site, Construction of Zamfara State Electrification Agency, Zamfara Water Supply agency Mosque among others.
COV/AMINU DALHATU.
