Among the contracts approved by FEC on April 4 was N1.2bn contract for the channelling of Asa River and its tributaries, which run through Ilorin metropolis in Kwara.

The Minister of Environment, Hadiza Ibrahim-Mailafia, had said that the contract was awarded to address the perennial problem of flooding in Ilorin, to avert further destruction of lives and property.

Ibrahim-Mailafia said the contract would forestall a recurrence of the 2007 and 2008 floods in the area, which displaced many schools, mosques and churches, forcing the government to establish temporary shelters for victims.

And even though the rainy season is here, and the project is expected to be completed within 12 months,SATURDAY PUNCH found that work has yet to commence there.

The dredging, recommended by the Department of Erosion, Flood and Coastal Zones Management of the ministry, was awarded to Messrs Ambico Sendirian Nigeria Ltd, but the funds to execute the contract would be secured from the Ecological Fund, according to the minister.

Meanwhile, the dredging of the Asa River, Kwara State had not yet commenced, three months into the period of completion.

An investigation by one  of our correspondents, who went round some of the affected areas in Ilorin on Tuesday, confirmed that work has yet to commence.

After the approval in April, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Ecology and Environment, Dr. Bukola Saraki, had hoped that work would commence on the project in a short time.

An email message sent to Saraki through one of his Special Assistants on Media, Bankimole Omisore, on Sunday, for clarification on why work has yet to start, was not replied at the time of filing this report. Calls made to his cell-phone indicated that he could not be reached.

Another media aide to Saraki, Mr. Akintoba Fatogun, did not pick his calls when one of our correspondents called.

The Asa River runs from the Oke Ogun side of Oyo State through Asa Local Government, Ilorin to the River Niger.