Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun State has suspended the Ilesa water project in Osun East Senatorial District due to poor handling of a $106 million loan secured for the project. The lead consultant, Tawa Williams, has also been ordered to return a N70 million bulletproof jeep to the government office. The governor has launched a full-scale probe into the entire project and the disbursement of loans, following the recommendations of the State’s Assets Recovery Committee.
The committee’s interim report revealed large-scale corruption and pilfering of procured loans, with no progress made on the project despite reported expenditure of $27.073 million from the IDB loan of $65 million and N10 billion from the Federal Government loan of $41.94 million.
Governor Adeleke condemned the corruption, which has denied the people of Ilesa access to drinkable water, and vowed to ensure accountability and transparency in the handling of the funds and the project.