NEWS
FEC Approves N38.4bn for Completion of Road Projects in 5 States
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved N38.4 Billion for the completion of some inherited road projects in five States of the federation.
Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola made this known when he briefed State House correspondents at the end of the Council meeting, presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday in Abuja.
According to him, the benefiting States include Benue, Bayelsa, Anambra, Imo and Nasarawa.
He added that all the affected projects were inherited from previous administrations.
“They are not new projects, they are projects that we inherited and we are trying to complete.
So essentially they relate to cost revision because of the ages of the contracts and the prices of goods that have changed.“The first one was the contract for a 13.5km spur of road from Onitsha-Owerri road through Okija-Ihembosi-For Ugbor to Ezinifite in Nnewi South Local Government Area of Anambra.
“That contract was awarded in 2011 but wasn’t funded until this administration came in so the contractor is asking us to revise the contract by a review of N488, 980, 891 and an additional completion period of six months and the council approved that review of price and the extended completion period,’’ he said.
The Minister further revealed that the second contract was that of the completion of a 20km road in Bayelsa.
“The Second one is the 20 kilometer dualization of Yenagoa road junction to Kolo and Otuoke and Bayelsa Palm in Bayelsa State.
“That contract was awarded in Dec. 2014 on the eve of the tenure of the last administration and it couldn’t even take off because of militancy issues at the time and also very limited budget provisions.
“It is one of the contracts that we have since activated with the Sukuk Bond.
“So, the dualization is progressing but there is some additional work that needs to be done.
“There are also results of further investigations that support a revision of the contract by N7.947 billion and this was approved by the council,’’ he said.
He said the third contract was for the completion of a road linking Nasarawa and Benue States.
“The third one is the 74 kilometer Nasarawa to Loko Road – that is the road that was awarded, I believe, in 2006, so it’s 15 years today, 74 km and it has not been completed.
This road links the Loko-Oweto Bridge, which we inherited and which we have completed and that Loko-Oweto Bridge links Nasarawa to Benue, across the River Benue and also connects to the Oweto to Oshogbedo Road, which we also inherited, which we have completed.
“The complete lane from Otukpo to Nasarawa ought to be facilitated by this 74km road.
The contractor has struggled with just about five kilometers of it since 2006, and a small bridge.
“So, what we’ve proposed was that instead of going through the long process of termination and all of that, we proposed and Council agreed that the contractor who finished the bridge and the contractor who finished the road, because they were all awarded to different contractors before we came, should join this contractor and take up the remainder.
“So, we’ve limited the contractor who was originally awarded this road to just 10.8, that’s all he will do.
“So, we’ve awarded 42 kilometers to the contractor who did the Oshogbedo-Oweto Road and we’ve then awarded 21km, which is the part joining the bridge directly, to the contractor who completed the bridge.
“So, all of these totaling a revised project sum of about N30 billion, shared amongst the three contractors,” he said.
The minister noted that the completion of the road would also save travel time for its users, especially those travelling from Otukpo in Benue to Abuja.
“What is instructive is that once we finish this last part of the road, although it is being used now, but is not tarred, commuters are using it because it cuts off three hours from the journey from Otukpo to Abuja.
“Motorists don’t have to go through Lafia, if you climb the Oweto Bridge across the River Benue, land in Nassarawa, you’ll be landing around Keffi.
“So, it’s cutting off 103 from that journey from Otukpo to Abuja, which is about three hours. It used to be six hours plus.
“This is strategic also for providing prosperity, lifting people out of poverty because if the saying that time is money is true, everybody who saves three hours has three hours’ extra productivity and also consumes three hours less fuel and travel time and so on.
“So, Council approved this memo and we hope that sometime next year we can complete that linkage.
“But as you know, those of you who went with me, commuters are already using the road in spite of that path not being complete,” he said.
Also addressing the correspondents on the outcome of the meeting, the Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu disclosed that the Council approved N10.7 Million as augmentation for the completion of Middle Rima Valley Irrigation Project in Sokoto State.
“The federal Ministry of Water Resources presented a memo to council for the revised total cost of phase II of the construction of middle river valley irrigation project.
“That is the completion of the middle Rima valley irrigation project in Goronyo, Sokoto State.
“This contract was started in 1999 by the military administration then, first phase was completed, comprising 873 hectares.
“The phase II was started in 2007 and that is what we have been struggling to complete. It is also an inherited project.
“The total scope of the phase II is 404,333 hectares out of which about 80 per cent of the work has been done.
“So, this memo is seeking a revised cost of the project, with an augmentation of about N10.7 million so that we’ll be able to finish the project, hopefully before the expiration of this administration in 2023,” he said.
According to Adamu, the project has a potential of generating employment for almost 50, 000 people as well as enhancing food production.
“It’s expected to provide, by the time it’s completely finished, a production of 39,000 tons of rice, 195,000 tons of vegetables per annum and it will generate employment for not less than 47,000 people and their families.
“So, Council graciously approved this memo with an additional completion period of about 24 months.
“Like I said, our target is to try to complete this project by 2023. This is in line with what we’ve been doing since the inception of this administration in my ministry; to complete ongoing, inherited and abandoned projects,” he stated.
The minister said out of the government’s target of completing the 116 inherited projects, 34 had so far been completed.
The Council meeting was preceded by the swearing-in of three National Commissioners of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Those sworn-in include Dr Baba Bila representing the North-East, Prof. Sani Adam, North-Central and Prof. Abdullahi Abdu, representing North-West zone. (NAN)
The Kebbi Government has announced the closure of the College of Health Sciences and Technology, Jega, indefinitely following a violent protest by students.
The Commissioner for Higher Education in the state, Alhaji Isah Abubakar-Tunga, made this known in Birnin Kebbi on Friday while briefing newsmen.
” Sequel to the violent protest that resulted in the setting ablaze the residence of the Provost of the college, Alhaji Haruna Saidu-Sauwa, we have directed that the college be shut down indefinitely,” he said.
Abubakar-Tunga said the action became imperative in view of the fact that if the demonstration was allowed to continue, it might escalate.
”Students are hereby advised to vacate the college premises with immediate effect.
” Their main target was the Provost, they burnt down his house and completely vandalised his car.
” When we visited the college, we only met the Registrar of the school. The Divisional Police Office (DPO) of the area yold us the provost was in a safe pace.
”But for the DPO’s intervention, the students would have lynched the provost,” he said.
Abubakar-Tunga said that the government asked the rioting students to nominate 10 representatives for dialogue.
” While deliberating with the students’ representatives, the students outlined some of their grievances to include; lack of accreditation of some courses of the college.
” Others they said are; lack of toilets, lack of potable water, poor sanitary environment, and bad leadership, among others.”
”The college will remain closed for three weeks to one month. Before the students return, they must come with their parents and must write an undertaking, promising to be of good behaviour.
“In this undertaking, every student must promise to pay for damaged property,” he said. (NAN)
The Oleh community in Delta State has petitioned the Federal Government to wade into the land dispute between it and its neighbour, Ozoro in order to avert “further bloodshed”
In the petition addressed to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi ,(SAN) the community said that 12 people had been killed over the land dispute.
The community, therefore urged the minister to promptly wade into the dispute, by calling on the state to obey a subsisting court order on it, in other “to avert another bloodbath after the killing of Oleh 12”
The petition made available to newsmen in Abuja on Friday was signed by Mr.
Believe Unuafe and Pastor Benjamin Odize, President General and Secretary General, Oleh Community Development Union (ODU) respectively.“It is with a heavy heart that we appeal to you to intervene and urge the Secretary to Delta State Government (SSG), Dr. Kingsley Emu, to adhere/respect subsisting court judgments regarding the Oleh and Ozoro Communities land boundary issues in Delta State.
“The failure to do so had resulted in the tragic murder of twelve (12) Oleh individuals who went to farm as labourers to earn a living.on October 16, 2020.
“Oleh, as a local government headquarters, is home to peaceful and law-abiding citizens. Despite the loss of innocent lives, we have refrained from retaliatory actions.
“We implore your esteemed office, the Federal Government, and the Nigerian State to take cognisance of the oppressive actions of Dr. Kingsley Emu against the Oleh Community,” the petitioners alleged.
They added “The oppressive actions have the potential of heating the polity, such that will lead to further crisis between the two communities, if not addressed promptly,”
“It is essential to recognise that Oleh and Ozoro Communities are both local government headquarters, inhabited by predominantly non-indigenous individuals.
“The non indigene could be caught in the crossfire, if the actions or inactions of the SSG lead to violent attacks on Oleh farmers by the Ozoro people.
“It is imperative to prevent any escalation that may result in further casualty”.
They recalled that, following the killings of the 12 people in their community, the former Delta Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, had established a Judicial Commission of Enquiry to investigate the boundary dispute.
They said the commission’s report presented on July 7, 2022, resulted in a White Paper issued by the State Executive Council and a map from the commission’s technical team.
“Regrettably, upon thorough examination of the map and the White Paper, discrepancies were discovered that undermined the original objective of seeking peace.
“Subsequently, legal action was taken, leading to a restraining order against the families of Ozoro landowners and the Delta state government.
“The court prohibited the execution of the white paper or encroachment onto the land due to inconsistencies in the map,” they said.
Highlighting the inconsistencies, the petitioners said that the map produced by the technical committee was in conflict with the white paper,
They said the allocation was in direct conflict with an earlier court judgment which confirmed ownership of the land by Oleh’s Ekrona – Ekredhegbe – Ekromokpose families along Oleh-Ozoro Road in their produced map.
“The allocation indicated areas where Oleh land owning families have obtained judgment be shared to Ozoro Community.
“The coordinates of the proposed boundary line established by the surveyors (Pp 7.4) contradicted the evidence and the actual boundaries as established during the commission’s visit to the land put in dispute by Ozoro Community.
“By this, it increased the land mass purported to be in dispute and reducing the land mass free from dispute by 15.8 hectares (39.1 acres).
This irregularity warrants the attention of the SSG and the State Government, but sadly, they have turned a blind eye to it,” they alleged.
Justifying their claims, the leaders contended that there were defunct Delta State and Federal Government establishments and institutions situated in their community’s expanse of lands about to be ceded to Ozoro.
They listed the institutions in Oleh to include, Origho Primary School, Emonsoyen, founded in 1992, Bendel Broadcasting Service, acquired by the defunct Bendel State Government over 40 years back.
“These are old landmarks known to the State and Federal Governments (INEC) that have never been in dispute or contentious.
“Therefore, shying away from the truth or politicising sensitive communal matters and hurriedly ceding our lands for selfish gains is not in the interest of peace and tranquillity,” they said.
The community leaders, therefore, urged that,
in the interest of peace and justice, the AGF should use his revered office to prevail on the state, and the SSG to give peace a chance and respect the rule of law,
“The SSG should allow the Delta State High Court holden at the Warri Judicial Division, to adjudicate on the issues submitted before it in suit No HCO/54/2022, by the aggrieved Oleh land owning families.
“We have absolute confidence in the Court to have a fair hearing, while we patiently wait for its adjudication on the Oleh/Ozoro land boundary dispute .
“It should be noted that, ceding our heritage and ancestral inheritance, which we have valid subsisting court judgment against the Ozoro Community is total disregard to the rule of law and a defeat to government efforts trying to resolve the crisis.
“We therefore seek your assistance as the Chief Law officer of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in admonishing the SSG and the Delta State Government to respect the rule of law to avert a potential breakdown of law and order.
The petition was copied to Sen. Godswill Akpabio, the Senate President, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas Speaker of the House of Represent and Sen. Joel-Onowakpo Thomas, representing
Delta South Senatorial District.
Others copied with the petition are, Hon. Ukodhiko Jonathan, Member representing Isoko North/South Constituency in the House of Representatives as well as the Attorney-General and Commissioner For Justice,
Delta State.(NAN)
The Emir of Daura, Alhaji Faruk Umar- Faruk, says National Youths Service Corps (NYSC) members do not suffer anything in his domain, as they lack nothing.
The emir made the statement when he received the NYSC Coordinator in the state, Alhaji Ibrahim Sa’idu, on a courtesy visit on Thursday in Daura.
According to the emir, NYSC is the only programme left for all Nigerians that ensure unity, from government to communities and individuals.
Umar-Faruk called on all Nigerians to see the NYSC members as, ”Children of necessity, orphans who has no family, Children that also need assistance, protection, guidance and comfort.
“NYSC members should not be seen as vulnerable for exploitation and molestation, they should be provided with shelter, food and everything that will make them comfortable in any place they found themselves
“Corps members don’t suffer anything in my domain, they lack nothing, because I always do my best to ensure they are well accommodated.
”He advised other communities in the country to do the same for the development and sustenance of the scheme, stressing that NYSC has done so much for the unity and integration of Nigeria after the civil war.
Earlier, Sa’idu told the emir that he was in his palace being one of the critical stakeholders to report that he has resumed office as the new NYSC coordinator in the state, and also to request for his blessings.
The coordinator assured the emir that the scheme would continue to collaborate with the Emirate Council towards the development of the country and the nation’s unity.
The highlight of the visit was the presentation of the NYSC Katsina State End of Service Year Publication to the Emir. (NAN)
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