FEC approves N15bn for Benin-Asaba highway
The Ministry of Works and Housing has gotten approval from Federal Executive Council to award a N15billion contract for the construction of an access road from the existing Benin-Asaba highway to join the link road in Delta State to the 2nd Niger Bridge.
Standing in for the Ministry, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the project was preparatory to the commissioning of the bridge before the expiration of the administration.
FEC equally gave nod to the Ministry to revise the estimated total cost of the contract for the dualisation of Suleja-Minna road, phase one, in Niger State.
The Minister said the contract, which originally stood at N9billion, would be augmented with N16billion, bringing the new cost to N25billion.
Alhaji Lai Mohammed also said FEC approved a memorandum of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources recommending the 7-year renewal of consultancy services for the ministry to save foreign exchange on some official engagements, such as the Nigeria International Energy Summit.
Similarly, the Ministry of Water Resources got FEC approval to award a contract for the construction of Jato dam, in Esako-west Local Government in Edo State to provide potable water and for all-year-round farming.
Alhaji Lai Mohammed explained that the Edo State Government had undertaken to under-write 25% of the N8million contract sum, which translates to N2billion.
The National Population Commission also got approval to spend N2.8 billion on the procurement of the series of software it require to conduct the forthcoming census successfully in May, this year.
FEC also approved variations on the contract sums for the completion of the 33KVA sub-stations in Nnewi and a line-bay extention at Onitsha sub-stations.
Briefing State House correspondents on the approval, the Minister of Power, Alhaji Abubakar Aliyu, said the variations, which stood at gulp €3.7m and over N1b, would escalate the total sum to over €5m and about N9b.
Writing by Abdullah Bello; Editing by Oluwaseyi Ajibade & Adeniyi Bakare