Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in Katsina State have chided the state governor, Dr. Dikko Radda, for his reported involvement that led to the revocation of the reconstruction of a 170-kilometre Federal Government road project in the state.

The CSOs, under the umbrella of the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), alleged that the road project was revoked for political reasons.

The 170km road project, which extends from Marabar Kankara in Kankara Local Government Area (LGA) to the Katsina State capital, was constructed 30 years ago, but the road had become dilapidated in several of its portions.

The federal government then awarded the road contract, and the contractor moved to site early this year and commenced scraping the road to begin reconstruction.

But for some reason, the project was abruptly stopped.

However, the Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Political Matters, Ibrahim Kabir Masari, disclosed at a recent event in the state that the road project was stopped by Governor Radda.

Masari, at the gathering, said, “The contract for the reconstruction of the road from Marabar Kankara, Kankara, Yantumaki, Dutsinma, Kurfi to Katsina was awarded, but it was awarded to the wrong person.

“Therefore, the Katsina State governor met Mr. President and asked him to revoke the contract and re-award it to another contractor that will do a better job.”

However, following this revelation, Governor Radda has come under fire from stakeholders, including CSOs, travellers who ply the road, and residents of the communities along the road.

Speaking, the state chairman of the CNG, Comrade Jamilu Charanchi, described the stoppage of the road project as unfortunate.

“This road is too important for anyone to play politics with its reconstruction; the people of Katsina State have, since the commencement of the project, been rejoicing that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has awarded this contract.

“In the past, we suffered the unfulfilled promises of former President Muhammadu Buhari; for eight good years, he failed to reconstruct this very important road.

“This was the same way he kept promising that he would reconstruct and dualize the Kano-Katsina road, but for eight years, he failed to complete that project.

“Now we were impressed by the way President Tinubu, just a few months into his tenure, awarded a contract for the reconstruction of the Marabar Kankara to Katsina road, which links seven Local Government Areas of the state.

“Therefore, we were very disappointed to hear that it was our governor himself who plotted to revoke the contract; it is indeed very disappointing and shameful.

“They are unnecessarily playing politics with the development of the people who voted them into office to protect their interests,” Charanchi said.

For residents of villages along the road, they say the stoppage of the reconstruction project has worsened insecurity in the area.

A resident of Ola community along the road, Dan-Gambo Faruku, lamented, “Kidnapping and armed banditry have worsened due to the cancellation of the road project.

“As you can see, this road has been scrapped as reconstruction had commenced, but from the time the project was stopped till now, too many people have been abducted and too many villages have been raided or attacked by bandits.

“More than 50 villages have been attacked between Burdugau, Yargoje, Kuka-Sheka, Danmarke, and Kankara.

“Because the road has been closed, security agencies cannot come to our aid during these attacks.

“Similarly, because vehicles have stopped plying the road, the area is too quiet; this is why bandits attack us at any time of the day.”

Also, a commercial vehicle driver, Haruna Abdu, lamented that despite the high cost of fuel, drivers have to go around through longer routes when travelling to Katsina.

“For drivers coming from Funtua or Zaria, the road through Kankara is the shortest route to Katsina, but the road construction project has been halted midway.

“Now we have to go around through Musawa or through Gidan Mutum Daya when going to Katsina.

“With the high cost of fuel, both commercial and private car owners go through a lot of trouble and spend too much money on fuel to get to Katsina,” Abdu said.

Other concerned citizens expressed worry over the likelihood of more delays in re-awarding the contract for the construction of the road, considering the bureaucracy involved in awarding and releasing funds for such projects in the country.

A resident who is also involved in road construction work and lives along the road, Aliyu Yantumaki, said, “A lot of bureaucracy and delay are involved in awarding and releasing funds for this kind of project.

“It is 170km long; how long will it take to re-award the contract? It might take many years, or probably the project will never see the light of day.”