Governor Awards N369Million Govt House Gate Contract To Firm Linked To Daughter
Governor Awards N369Million Govt House Gate Contract To Firm Linked To Daughter Amid Water Scarcity
This comes as residents of the state capital continue to struggle for clean water and other necessities.
The Adamawa State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Iliya James, confirmed that Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri’s administration approved N369 million for the remodelling and automation of the main gate at the Government House in Yola.
This comes as residents of the state capital continue to struggle for clean water and other necessities.
The commissioner announced the luxury gate project shortly after the 17th State Executive Council meeting on September 15, 2025, in Yola.
“In today’s Executive Council meeting, Council considered a number of memoranda submitted by Ministries, Departments and Agencies. Among others, Council approved the sum of Three Hundred and Sixty-Nine Million Naira (N369,000,000) for the renovation and automation of the main gate of the Government House, Yola. Council also approved Timeless Dizing Limited as the contractor for that project,” James stated.
While fielding questions from SaharaReporters to clarify the allocation, James added, “Yes, renovation, remodeling, and automation.”
However, a credible source familiar with the transaction told SaharaReporters that Timeless Dizing Limited is owned by one of Governor Fintiri’s daughters.
According to the source, the company was quietly registered and had no visible operational history before being handed the multi-million-naira contract.
Even more troubling, SaharaReporters’ checks at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) showed that the company’s registration details and directors could not be verified as of press time, raising questions about its legal status and eligibility for such a public contract.
When Commissioner James was contacted to confirm the actual ownership of the company, he ignored questions on the matter, but said, “BBP (sic) (Bureau of Public Procurements) certified all companies handling contracts before it issue (certificate) of no objection.”
“State government don’t (sic) give contracts to illegal companies,” he added.
Pressed further to respond to the question directly, he said, “Impossible!”
When asked for the name(s) of directors of the company, he flatly responded, “Documents not in my custody please.”
Reacting to the revelation, Ibrahim Ahmed Sabana, a civic activist and public commentator, decried the project, describing it as evidence of the governor’s obsession with personal luxury at the expense of public welfare. He argued that such spending mocks governance at a time when hospitals across the state are in shambles and potable water remains a luxury for many households.
“This is happening while hospitals are left in a state of disrepair and people die regularly due to a lack of clean drinkable water,” Sabana said.
“It’s time to speak against wasteful spending. The governor is prioritising comfort and aesthetics over the welfare of citizens. This level of extravagance is shameful.”
The controversial approval, contained in a memo from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and confirmed by Commissioner James, underscores what critics describe as the administration’s obsession with luxury projects over public welfare.
“It’s an insult to the intelligence of the people,” said Halima Musa, a Jimeta resident who has endured weeks without a supply of water.
“We fetch water from vendors at ridiculous prices while the government is busy upgrading a gate. This is leadership gone tone-deaf.”
Further checks revealed that several communities in Yola North and Yola South have not received public water supply for years, forcing many households to rely on boreholes and private water vendors.
Despite repeated complaints, the state’s water board remains largely dysfunctional.
Multiple government sources confirmed that the gate project was fast-tracked through the State Executive Council without adequate justification or cost comparison.
One official, who requested anonymity, described the approval as “a textbook case of inflated contracting dressed up as modernization.”
“Even a brand-new Government House fence wouldn’t cost that much,” the source said. “This one gate costing N369 million is nothing short of financial recklessness.”
Residents say the project reflects a pattern of misplaced priorities by an administration increasingly accused of turning governance into a spectacle of self-indulgence.
From dilapidated roads to collapsing schools and hospitals, many argue that the N369 million could have been better spent addressing Adamawa’s chronic water infrastructure deficits.
As one political analyst in Yola put it, “That gate may soon stand not as an entryway to governance, but as a monument to waste, greed, and the widening gap between the rulers and the ruled.”
