The Federal Executive Council, FEC, has approved N33.01 billion for various contracts covering roads, railway services installation, and public procurement.
Lai Mohammed, the minister of Information and Culture, who led Ministers of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi; Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami and Power, Mamman Saleh as well as the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Procurement, Mamman Ahmadu, disclosed this to State House Correspondents after the weekly virtual FEC meeting on Wednesday, October 14, 2020, presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.
Mohammed said the FEC approved two road projects located in Lagos State and an inter-state, stretching from Kano to Maiduguri.
According to him, a total of N22,247,332,000 was approved for the reconstruction of the Apapa-Oworonsoki-Ojota road phase section two while augmentation of N8 billion was approved for the initial cost of the Kano-Wudil-Shuarin section of the Kano-Maiduguri Road.
Briefing on behalf of Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, Mohammed said: “I want to report that he presented a memo which was approved in council today for the award of a contract for the reconstruction of the Apapa-Oworonsoki-Ojota Phase Section II, which is bit land Interchange, 8.1-kilometer stretch. You will recall that in 2018, the Federal Government approved an award of a contract to the Dangote Industry for the sum of N72 billion.
“By the time the award was made, there was this Section of the road that was in fairly good condition. But with the construction of the Oworonsoki project coming to an end, it now makes better sense to include that section which was fairly good.
“This contract was awarded today for the sum of N22,247,332,000. But you must know that this is one of the projects being awarded under the Infrastructural Tax Credit Scheme. In other words, it is awarded to Dangote and Dangote will construct it and over the years, it will be deducted from the tax payable by the group. It is one of the various means of PPP that this administration has embraced.
“It is not only restricted to Oworonsoki-Apapa road, it is the same system that is being used in Obajana-Kaba road. Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas, NLNG, is also using the same formula for the bridge to link Bonny and Boro in Rivers State.
“Another memo which he presented was for the award of contract for the dualisation of Kano-Maiduguri road. That is Section One. That is the Kano-Wudil-Shuarin section. This is about 560 kilometers contract between Kano and Maiduguri.
“The section awarded today is actually more of approval for an estimated total cost. They found out that at the time of the award of the contract, certain conditions have to be known. He sought a revision and an increment in the sum of N8 billion which will bring the total cost of the contract to N63 billion. It was approved by council today,” he explained.
Amaechi said FEC granted approval for a contract for the installation of security gadgets for seven railway stations at the cost of N1.21 billion.
“We presented a memo for the supply, deployment, installation, testing and commissioning of security equipment for seven railway stations, mainly Idu, Rigasa, Jere, Kubwa, Kaduna, and Kano in favour of Messrs Avonics Services Nigeria Limited, in the sum of N1,208,335,464.60, inclusive of 7.5% tax with a completion period of 12 months,” he said.
Ahmadu said the FEC approved a N1.6 billion contract for initiating an e-government procurement system in the country.
According to him, the reason for opting for the system is to eliminate the rigours, corruption, and time consumption disadvantages associated with the manual procurement process.
Source: The Nation
