Buhari Inaugurates N23bn Bauchi Water Project

The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on Thursday, inaugurated a N23.5 billion World Bank Assisted Upgraded Bauchi Township Water Supply Scheme.

He said the third Urban National Water Sector Reform Project under which the upgrading of the Bauchi Township Water Supply Scheme was executed as a part of the deliberate strategy of his administration to promote better living for the populace by increasing access to water supply in some selected states, including Bauchi.

Buhari, who was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, at the commissioning of the project at the Gubi Water Treatment Plant in Bauchi, said that the collaborative efforts involving the Bauchi State government, the World Bank, and the Federal Government had become a success story as evidenced by the project that he was in the state to commission.

He was quoted as saying, “Essentially, the Federal Government, as it is required under the Multi-National Donor Funded Project, provided the guarantee as well as the critical supervision and the oversight through the office of the National Urban Sector Reform Project domiciled in the Federal Ministry of Water Resources.

“I am happy to note that Bauchi State has executed the project creditably. I am not surprised by this accomplishment because the state government personally pursued the project with vigour and determination through the allocation of resources and intervention to eliminate bottlenecks and challenges including even the COVID-19 which affected the project extension as well as paying attention to details. This is what leaders in the country should emulate from the governor of Bauchi state.

“I know with satisfaction that the Upgraded Bauchi Township Water Scheme has the capacity to supply the water demand of over one million people and I congratulate the good people of Bauchi, my people, for being the beneficiary of this legacy,” he stated.

The President tasked the Bauchi State government to ensure that the culture of infrastructure maintenance is embedded in the management of the facility for the long-term benefits of the people of the state even as he urged the people to ensure the sustainability and ownership of the project.