Our attention has been drawn to a publication in some national dailies and social media platforms that 1,078 irrigation pumps under the constituency projects for Kebbi Central Senatorial District have allegedly been discovered by officers of the ICPC to have been hidden by Senator Muhammad Adamu Aliero.
It has therefore become necessary to clarify the mischievous presentation credited to an officer of the ICPC called Sa’idu Yahaya.
Officers from the ICPC were in kebbi state for verification of constituency projects and were received and conducted round the locations of constituency projects executed by Senator Muhammad Adamu Aliero by Alh Muhammad Yunusa Jega, the Personal Assistant to the Senator.
After the tour, they expressed satisfaction with the quality and extent of the execution of the projects.
Without their prompting or inquiry and in the spirit of the instruction of Senator Muhammad Adamu Aliero that they should be shown all the projects, he informed and took them to the warehouse housing the water pumps that were yet to be distributed to the beneficiaries because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
We are therefore shocked to read in the media that a member of the team, Sa’idu Yahaya told the press that the ICPC had seized the water pumps and locked up the warehouse in furtherance of an alleged investigation into hunches and suspicions of mismanagement or poor execution of constituency projects.
It should be noted that the pumps are part of a larger number of other items supplied and distributed at a ceremony witnessed by prominent personalities including Kebbi state Governor, Senator Atiku Abubakar.
The supply of the remainder of the pumps was hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was considered that distributing only a part would have also created unnecessary panic among the farmers who would have been left out in the distribution.
Besides, the fact that the pumps were kept intact should inform any well-meaning individual that nothing untoward is meant in their non-distribution.
It is worth noting that Senator Muhammad Adamu Aliero has, as an individual freely distributed more than 2000 water pumps to individual farmers in the last planting season while Labana Rice Mills, which he founded had distributed more than 10,000 water pumps to farmers’ cooperatives under its out growers programme in support of their farming business.
We therefore concluded that the report is in bad faith aimed at discrediting the Distinguished Senator and create bad blood between him and his constituents whom he has devoted his life in serving them selflessly.
Abdullahi Idris Zuru, Media Aide to Senator Muhammad Adamu Aliero.
