The Katsina State Government has called on the Federal Government to revisit over 74 abandoned projects across the state.
Dr. Faisal Kaita, Commissioner of Lands and Physical Planning, made the appeal at a stakeholders’ town hall meeting in Katsina on Tuesday. The meeting was organized by Alhaja Khadijt Omotayo-Kareem, Personal Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Constituency Affairs.
Kaita noted that many of these projects, initiated by previous administrations, were abandoned at various stages of completion.
“Among the key projects are the dualisation of Katsina-Kano road, the expansion of Umaru Musa-Yar’adua airport, and the Katsina-Daura-Maradi rail project,” Kaita said.
He highlighted that while the dualisation project from Kano to Gidan Mutum-Daya is complete, the segment in Katsina remains unfinished due to non-payment of compensation to affected residents.
“The compensation for the Kano part was handled by the federal government, so the Katsina part should receive similar consideration from the president,” Kaita urged.
He emphasized the importance of the road, which links Katsina and Kano and extends to other African countries.
Kaita revealed that the state government had initially addressed the compensation issue but was dissuaded by the Federal Ministry of Works’ decision.
“The federal government has decided to appoint property valuers to assess the affected areas and submit the valuation to the state government for payment. If the federal government insists that we should pay the compensation, then we have our building valuers that can do the job,” he stated.
