NEWS
FG needs N16trn to Complete Inherited Road Projects – Umahi
The Minister of Works, Mr David Umahi, says the Federal Government needs more than N16 trillion to complete inherited road projects nationwide.
Umahi made the disclosure when he briefed newsmen on the achievements of the ministry under the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu on Thursday in Abuja.
He said that the present administration inherited a total of 18,932.
50 kilometres of ongoing road projects, with a total of 2,064 contracts.The minister said that the total value of all the ongoing projects as at May 2023 was N14.42 trillion.
He said that the amount certified was N4.73 trillion with N3.12 trillion paid and N1.61 trillion owed.
“The funding gap to complete all the inherited projects is about N13 trillion as at May 2023; that will be more than N16 trillion when all projects are reviewed in line with current market realities.
“This is due to the removal of fuel subsidies and the floating of the naira.
“It is a very sound economic decision by this administration, considering the fact that some of the projects have lingered for between five and eight years.
“Consequently, the projects are being reviewed to match current market realities; this position excludes all the new projects under the Renewed Hope Agenda and the four legacy projects,’’ Umahi said.
According to him, the old traditional method of funding highway projects was through the annual budgetary provision.
He said, however, that over the years, budget provisions had seemed inadequate to address the challenges of highway development.
Umahi stated that to meet up funding for road projects, the ministry embraced alternative funding mechanisms like the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) and Sovereign SUKUK issued by the Debt Management Office (DMO).
The minister said that other funding included the Road Tax Credit Scheme (NNPCL, NLNG, Dangote, BUA, MIN, Mainstream Energy Solutions Ltd., and GZI Industries) and the use of multilateral loans.
Others are the Public Private Partnership (PPP)/Highway Development Management Initiative (HDMI) and the newly established Renewed Hope Infrastructure Funding model.
He said that 82 projects were approved under the SUKUK fund, with a total sum of N100 billion invested in road construction and rehabilitation in 2017.
Umahi added that the projects included N100 billion in 2018, N162.55 billion in 2020, and N210.56 billion in 2021; for 2,812 km of road, N110 billion was approved in 2022, and the approved 2023 SUKUK provision stood at N250 billion.
He said that the sum of N2.59 trillion was approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for the funding of 65 highway projects under Phases I and II of the NNPCL Funding.
The minister said that the projects were to cover a total of 6,358 km, while the available funding for the projects up to 2025 was N2.59 trillion.
“The reviewed total contract sum due to inflation is N5.288 trillion.
“The funding gap for the completion of both phases I and II is N2.702 trillion.
“To date, the total payment made by NNPCL is in the sum of N840 billion, and the total outstanding funding approved by FEC is N1.750 trillion.
The projects are spread across the six geopolitical zones of the country,’’ he said.
The minister said that the ministry, under its statutory responsibilities over the federal road network, introduced the Highway Development and Management Initiative (HDMI) under the Public Private Partnership Unit (PPP).
He said that this was to attract sustainable investment and funding in the development of road infrastructure and maximise the use of assets along the Right of Way (ROW).
Umahi said that the idea behind the private sector engagement was to provide an alternative source of financing for road development and management.
He said that the HDMI was expected to, among other things, bring order, accountability, and profitable entrepreneurship to the operations, management, and maintenance of federal highways.
The minister said that the emergent concessionaires would recoup their investments through toll and non-toll revenues, as may be negotiated.
He added that four legacy highway projects were selected under the Renewed Hope Agenda of the current administration for implementation to improve road network and train service connectivity across the six geopolitical zones and boost socio-economic development.
Umahi listed the projects to include the Lagos-Calabar (750 km) Coastal Road Corridor, Sokoto-Badagry (1,068 km) Road, Calabar-Abuja Superhighway Project (482 km) (TransSaharan Road), and Akwanga-Jos-Bauchi-Gombe Road (439 km).
He said that the Renewed Hope mandate of the Federal Ministry of Works included the planning, design, construction, and maintenance of federal road infrastructure nationwide. (NAN)
The Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) has clinched 15 Chairmanship seats in Saturday’s Local Government Elections in Abia, while the Young Progressives Party (YPP) won two seats.The Chairman of the Abia State Independent Electoral Commission (ABSIEC), Prof George Chima, announced the result of the chairmanship poll at thecommission’s headquarters in Umuahia.
Chima said: “We have carried out the duty we were inaugurated on September 5 to undertake. “It was not an easy task, but we went out on our way to create awareness about the elections across the state. “It must be noted that, in recent times, this commission has not conducted an election where over 12 political parties took part, this on its own is a plus to the commission.”The ABSIEC boss said that the chairmanship and councillorship polls took place in the 17 Local Government Areas (LGAs).He described the exercise as “free fair and credible”.He said that the elections were a demonstration of the commission’s dedication, focus and efficiency.Chima expressed joy that the commission successfully completed, in just two months, a task that typically required six to 12 months of effort.“I congratulate the winners and the losers too, because in any election there must be winners and losers.“The most important thing is that Abia has been peaceful and I want the peace to continue.“I appreciate the security agencies for their support, political parties for playing the game according to the rule,” Chima said.Report says that ZLP won in Isiala Ngwa South, Isiala Ngwa North, Umuahia North, Umuahia South, Ukwa East, Ukwa West, Obingwa, Aba North, Aba South, Isuikwuato, Umunneochi, Arochukwu, Bende, and Ohafia LGAs.The remaining two LGAs of Osisioma and Ugwunagbo were won by YPP. (NAN)
Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris appeared on the “Saturday Night Live” TV comedy show on Saturday, adding a surprise jolt to the U.S presidential election ust three days before her with showdown with Republican Donald Trump.“Keep Calm-ala and carry on-ala,” Harris said in unison with the actor who plays her on the show, Maya Rudolph.
It was Harris’ first time on the show, which has had other presidential candidates over its decades-long run. Trump appeared during his first presidential bid in 2015, where he poked fun at his tendency to exaggerate and steer clear of policy specifics.He also appeared in 2004, long before he entered politics.A Trump aide said he didn’t know if he had been invited to appear this year.Earlier on Saturday, Harris and Trump’s planes shared the tarmac in Charlotte, North Carolina, as the two candidates held dueling events in the southern state, one of a handful that will determine the outcome of Tuesday’s election.It was the fourth day in a row that the candidates campaigned in the same state.Only seven states are seen as truly competitive, but poll released on Saturday showed Harris holding a surprise lead in Iowa, a state Trump won easily in the last two elections.Trump and Harris stuck to familiar themes at their appearances.Trump said he would deport millions of immigrants if elected and warned that if Harris wins, “Every town in America would be turned into a squalid, dangerous refugee camp.”Campaigning in Atlanta, Harris said Trump would abuse his power if he returned to the White House.“This is someone who is increasingly unstable, obsessed with revenge, consumed with grievance, and the man is out for unchecked power,” she said.More than 75 million Americans have already cast ballots, according to the Election Lab at the University of Florida, in a sign of voter enthusiasm.In North Carolina, the western counties that were devastated by Hurricane Helene appeared to be voting at roughly the same rate as the rest of the state, according to Catawba College political science professor Michael Bitzer.At a later rally in Salem, Virginia, Trump said he ran for office to rescue the economy from “obliteration” even though it would have been easier to relax at one of his oceanfront resorts.“I didn’t need to be here today,” he said. “I could have been standing on that beach, my beautiful white skin getting nice and being smacked, being smacked in the face by a wave loaded up with salt water.”Trump was joined on stage by women from a local college swim team who have objected to competing against transgender athletes.Some of Trump’s TV ads have sought to capitalise on transgender controversies.Meanwhile, Kamala Harris has surpassed Donald Trump in a new poll in Iowa, according to the Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll released on Saturday.Women voters are likely responsible for the turnaround in a state that Trump easily won in 2016 and 2020.The poll of 808 likely voters, who were surveyed Oct. 28-31, has Harris leading Trump 47%-44% in Iowa, which has been trending deeply Republican in recent years.It is within the 3.4 percentage point margin of error, but it marked a turnaround from a September Iowa Poll that had Trump with a 4-point lead, the newspaper reported.“The poll shows that women — particularly those who are older or who are politically independent — are driving the late shift toward Harris,” the Register said.Trump senior adviser Jason Miller said the Iowa poll was “idiotic” and an outlier that has no credibility. (Reuters/NAN)The Katsina State chapter of the National Association of Scrap and Waste Dealers, Employers of Nigeria, has inaugurated a 200-member task force committee to tackle vandals hiding under their umbrella.
Report says that during the inauguration in Katsina on Saturday, the association also launched its newly elected executive members in the state.
Alhaji Aminu Hassan-Soja, the North Regional President of the association, said the aim of the committee was to curtail vandalism in the state.
Hassan-Soja said: “There is no doubt, vandalism has now become a serious threat to the nation, and Katsina in particular, and accusing fingers are pointing at our members.
“To show the world that we are not vandals, criminals or thieves, but we are doing our legal businesses, that’s why we inaugurated this task force committee.
“The aim is to complement the efforts of government in tackling the activities of vandals in the nation, this is the focus of the committee.
“Our business is about buying and selling metals. I can confidently say that this business is contributing so much to the country’s economy, apart from reducing unemployment.”
He also revealed that scrap and waste dealers also clean the environment, and control the country’s economy through the supply of raw materials to over 70 per cent of Nigerian companies.
“Some of the companies we supply with the raw materials include steel, plastic, and also roofing sheets, where we supply them with scrap metals. We support the country’s economy through sustaining the recycling industry.
“Because without our activities, no investor will come to Nigeria because they can not see raw materials to process and make finished products.
“Also, most of our companies will wind-up because there’s no raw materials for them to process. This is where we contribute to the development of the country’s economy,” he said.
The regional president further explained that across the country, they have over 5 million members engaging and benefitting from the business, while Katsina accounted for over 200,000 members.
Also speaking, a member of Katsina State House of Assembly, representing Funtua constituency, Alhaji Abubakar Total said the assembly was not planning to ban the scrap activities, but trying to sanitise the business.
According to Total, there are some bad elements hiding under the association to vandalise and steal public and other people’s property in the state.
He explained that the assembly only urged the government to find a way of regulating their activities by engaging the leadership of the association and other relevant stakeholders. (NAN)
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