FEC okays N55.7b for road, aviation contracts

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved road and aviation projects totalling N55.7 billion.

This came as Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Ita Enang yesterday revealed plans to lead a delegation of elders to pay a ‘thank you visit’ to the Presidency for approval of award of contract for the dualisation of Calabar, Odukpani Itu, Spur Ibede Itan, Ikot Ekpene and Aba in Cross River, Akwa Ibom and Abia states federal highway.

Enang ‎said the economic significance of the contract is that “food items, farming, evacuation of power and granite that is taken for construction for almost all the roads in the South-East and South-South come from Cross River and Akwa Ibom.

“It is that traffic that broke down the road. So, that road being dualised now will rejuvenate the economic life of these areas.

“This has been one of the greatest problems of people of these areas and we have been struggling for the past 10 to 12 years.

“But President Buhari said that this must be done for these people to reduce their sufferings.

“I can imagine the joy of the entire people of these areas and I am here to express our appreciation to him and the leadership of this country,” he said.

Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola; Minister of State for Aviation, Hadi Sirika; Information, Lai Mohammed and Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, briefed State House correspondents at the end of the meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

According to Fashola, N54.172 billion was approved for Odukpani Itu-Ikot Ekpene route linking Akwa Ibom and Cross River states.

Also, Sirika disclosed that the Council approved N1.524 billion for projects in the sector.

He said: “You recall that when we were appointed as ministers, we had a blueprint or roadmap of aviation and how it would look like. You were also witnesses to stakeholders’ meeting we held four times, two in Lagos and two in Abuja where we discussed these ideas and because most of the projects and programmes were supposed to be on the PPP basis, we were guided by the ICRC regulation, which is in accordance with our own Act to follow certain processes.

Adamu said that his ministry submitted one memo that has to do with the verification of 2,300 hectares of irrigation project in Kano and Jigawa states.

The minister, who noted that the project was started during the PTF days in 1998, said it had attained 50 per cent completion when the Fund winded up.

He said: “It has been abandoned for almost 20 years. As you are aware, it has been the policy of the ministry to give priority to ongoing projects.

“This particular project happens to be one of the priority projects. Having been abandoned for over 17 years, it is not easy to just move back to site. We have to do a more detailed analysis of the scope of work to know how much work is needed to complete the project and how much it will cost.”