Heckler shouts down governor in public over failure to complete hospital, road projects

A heckler on Saturday at a public event shouted down Governor Muhammadu Badaru of Jigawa State over the failure of his government to complete hospital and road projects in Birnin Kudu Local Government Area of the state.

The governor was in the area to launch the educational assistance scheme of a lawmaker, Magaji Aliyu, for 5000 students.

From the podium, Mr Badaru was listing federal government projects in Jigawa when he was interrupted by the heckler.

The voice of the unidentified man rang out clear from the crowd, saying: “The road project you promised and the Birnin Kudu hospital project are yet to be executed.”

The angry man was obviously referring to the dilapidated road in his community and the controversial Birnin Kudu hospital project that has remained under construction for about a decade.

A flustered Mr Badaru swiftly responded: ” Have I ever made a promise that I didn’t fulfil? I will fulfil all my promises.”

Governor blames contractor

The governor went on to blame the contractor handling the hospital project, calling the unnamed contractor lazy.

“Even though, the contract was awarded by the preceding administration, I continued with the project. The project is sluggish because of the laziness of the contractor handling the project,” Mr Badaru explained.

“I have paid all the money needed to complete the hospital project. The contractor’s certificate never stayed longer than two weeks at my treasury.

“At a point, I decided to revoke the contract but the processes will be longer than the time needed to complete it. I assure you that the project will be commissioned this year,” Mr Badaru said.