The Niger State-owned
The transformation was noticed recently after many years of abandonment of the structure by the state government.
The estate was built by the administration of a former governor of the state, late
The project, which had reached 80 percent completion was abandoned by the contractor, following the exit of the administration.
Fence of the estate, now barracks
Work on the estate was stalled by bureaucratic bottlenecks and intrigues fuelled by contending interests, it was gathered.
The succeeding government, after assessing the facility and evaluating funds needed for its completion, decided to dispose of it altogether. The state government then opened bidding for interested buyers to come forward with offers in 2009, but could not seal the deal owing to the failure of organisations that had earlier showed interest to come forward.
He said the bank released N255.9 million and Niger State government gave N100 million to a private company through the
According to him, the N255.9 million released by the bank had yielded up to N300 million interest, forcing the parties to sell off to a private company to recover their investment. He explained that under the new arrangement, the state government would be refunded N110 million, the private company N70 million and the bank N255.9 million. He also revealed that the bank had decided to forgo the N300 million interest in order to ensure quick recovery of its initial loan for the project.
It was learnt that
Our correspondent learnt that 50 people had paid fully for houses, while others made deposits of different sums.
'We allocated to about 50 people that paid in full and about 66 people had made some deposits for the houses as it was under mortgage arrangement.
'The state executive council meeting approved that whoever wants to buy the site, it's agreed among other conditions, that the 50 or so who have fully paid their money will be allowed to retain their houses, except if they don't want, to while the 66 others that made deposits will have their money refunded,' Sarki had said.
With the supposed sale of the estate to the
Our reporters observed that the facility is undergoing renovation and facelift. It was also observed that some policemen are already living in the facility, now referred to as police barracks.
Major renovations made include re-roofing, new windows, doors, repainting of the buildings and the gate with the colours and logo of the
Some civilians residing in the facility expressed concern about the uncertainty of their future in the estate. While some have expressed interest to remain in the facility, others opted for compensation to enable them relocate.
Some of them who spoke to
They alleged that those who contributed to the scheme were not consulted before the decision to privatise the facility was taken.
'While the project was going on, the state
An occupant who has relocated said it was on one faithful day that some officers of the
He said the houses had been abandoned for a long period of time and some of them saw it as an opportunity to reside in them without paying a dime.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer in state, DSP
© Pakistan Press International, source