By Ebitonye Akpodigha
Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State has inaugurated the board of the Kwara State Public Private Partnership Bureau (KP3) to supervise all PPP arrangements in the state.
At the ceremony held on Tuesday, Mr Ahmed said that one of the first assignments of the board is to oversee the effective implementation of the Kwara Infrastructure Development Fund, (IFK) and its associated projects.
According to him, the IFK is enshrined in the Kwara State Public Private Partnership Law of 2015, which he signed into law shortly after he was inaugurated for a second term.
He noted that in view of the financial situation of the country, it became necessary for the state government to innovate new ways of carrying on the business of governance such as leveraging on public private partnerships to ensure projects are funded to completion and efficiently without reliance on federal allocation.
Mr Ahmed disclosed that the IFK, which is under the KP3, is a scheme that will ensure that Kwara will never be the same in terms of infrastructure development because it puts in place a funding model that ensures all high value projects initiated are funded to completion.
The Governor, however, added that lower value infrastructural projects below N300 million will be financed through other funding windows, stressing the government was not abdicating its responsibility but was rather partnering the private sector to fulfil people’s expectation for development.
Mr Ahmed further noted that the IFK will end the era of abandoned projects and delay in payment of contractors in the State.
He stated that the IFK will outlive his administration because it is a structure that he expects future administrations in the State will embrace to ensure the implementation of critical infrastructure projects.
The Governor, therefore, charged members of the board to work diligently and ensure that the State government’s aims of establishing the KP3 and IFK are realized.
Alhaji Abdulwahab Yusuf is the Chairman of the Board, while Mrs Mosunmola Bello will serve as the Secretary.
Other members are Mr Yomi Ogunshola (KP3 Director General), Mrs Esther Olarewaju (Ministry of Finance), Mr Samuel Oladipo (Ministry of Planning and Economic Development), Alhaji Jimoh Mumuni (Ministry of Justice), Engr Olusegun Bolarinwa (Ministry of Works and Transport) and Mr Shuaib Akanbi Oke (Ministry of Housing and Urban Development).
Modupe Gbadeyanka