The Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Niger State has accused Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago of abandoning over 250 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) buses allegedly purchased with public funds to ease the transportation burden on residents following the removal of fuel subsidy, claiming that the vehicles have been left to deteriorate at the state Trade Fair Complex in Minna for more than three years.
The party also accused the governor of developing a penchant for abandoning projects, alleging that several government projects across the state had been left uncompleted despite increased revenue allocations from the Federation Account.
In a statement issued in Minna on Monday, spokesperson of the SDP Governorship Campaign Council and former Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Jonathan Vatsa, questioned why the state government had allegedly allowed the buses, which he claimed were acquired through loans, to waste away instead of deploying them for public transportation.
Vatsa alleged that many of the vehicles had been vandalised, with important components removed, while some had become hideouts for suspected criminals and reptiles.
According to him, the condition of the buses reflected what he described as the administration’s disregard for public resources and its failure to complete projects initiated with taxpayers’ money.
“What can the governor tell the people of this state as to the reason for allowing those buses that were purchased with state resources to waste away at the Trade Fair Complex?
“For over three years now, these buses have been left at the Trade Fair Complex, rotting away, with all the important parts and components vandalised.
“These buses, which were acquired through loans, were meant to cushion the effect of the fuel subsidy removal on the citizens, but unfortunately, this is the fate that has befallen the buses.
“But as we speak, these buses are home to reptiles and criminals hiding inside them because you have a governor who has no respect for public funds,” he alleged.
Vatsa further accused the Bago administration of failing to give adequate attention to public infrastructure, claiming that abandoned projects had become a common feature across the state.
“It baffles me how someone can have a penchant and love for abandoned projects. Everywhere you go in the state, it is abandoned projects, with no single project commissioned in the last three and a half years of this government,” he claimed.
The former commissioner maintained that the people of Niger State deserved better management of public resources, arguing that the alleged abandonment of the buses and other projects raised questions about the administration’s priorities and accountability.
He also alleged that while work continued around the clock on privately owned projects and farms, several government projects had suffered delays or outright abandonment because of inadequate funding, despite what he described as unprecedented resources accruing to the state from the Federation Account.
Vatsa urged residents to scrutinise the government’s record ahead of the 2027 governorship election, warning against what he described as another four years of abandoned projects and mounting debt obligations.
“In 2027, the people of this great state have a choice to make, either to remain stagnant with abandoned projects staring them in the face and unpayable loans or choose the path of progress,” he said.
