Osun State governor, Ademola Adeleke, has set up a Joint Committee with the Ministry of Water Resources to probe the Ilesa Water Project which is estimated to have cost over N12bn.
He said that the state lost billions of Naira that should have been earned as Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to illegal miners.
He alleged that the past administration of Adegboyega Oyetola wasted resources in the way the Ilesa Water Project was executed.
Governor Adeleke made this known as he addressed academic and non-academic staff during an unscheduled visit to the Osun State College of Education, Ilesa over the weekend.
In his address during the visit, the governor took the opportunity to inform the people of Ijesha about the Ilesa Water Project and the effect of illegal mining activities in the region under the previous administration in relation to water pollution, environmental degradation and income leakage.
In his words, “The past APC government mismanaged the Ilesa water project with more than 12 billion naira spent so far without any result.
“I have met with the Minister of Water Resources who confirmed to me that the project failed due to fraudulent activities of the contractor. It is also public knowledge that the Consultant for the water project alleged a demand of five million dollars from the state house committee on water resources.”
“We have since set up a Joint Committee with the Ministry of Water Resources. The contract will be re-advertised after an out of court settlement with all the stakeholders involved in the project,” the Governor stated.
The governor, who insisted that the past APC government encouraged illegal mining activities in and around Ijesha, added that the situation led to serious environmental degradation and pollution of water in the state and denying the state the much needed income from mining activities.
“The APC government encouraged illegal mining in the state. This has caused serious pollution of our water. The Water Minister confirmed to me that Ilesa underground water source is polluted.
“The state also lost several billions of Naira that should have been earned as IGR if the mining activities were done properly.
“The committee I set up to review the activities of the illegal miners submitted their report yesterday. I am going through it and will soon issue the strategies that my administration will be using to address the water and environmental pollution caused by mining activities.
“I am confident that this will effectively clear the mess caused by the APC administration in Ijesha land,” the governor stated.
Adeleke on assumption of office as governor in November, 2022 had seized the gold mining licence issued to mining companies in the state.