The Federal Executive Council (FEC) yesterday approved contracts worth an aggregate of N225,247,014,820 for projects in various ministries and agencies.
Works and Housing Minister Babatunde Fashola; Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika; Police Affairs Minister Maigari Dingyadi; and the Minister of State for Health, Ekunmankama Nkama, addressed a media briefing coordinated by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Giving a rundown of the approvals secured from Council by his ministry, Fashola said the FEC approved two memoranda seeking to get two projects executed on Road Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme, at the aggregate cost of N207,092,890,527.
The minister said the projects – 91.9 kilometre stretch of the 110-dual carriage Enugu-Onitsha Expressway, would be undertaken by telecommunication giant, MTN, at a cost of N202,887,436,672,11 billion, while the second one, a 3.7-kilometre road in Abia State, would be undertaken by another company, GZ Industries, at the cost of N4,205,454,855,26
“The first that was approved today was the one by MTN Nigeria Plc …to take over and complete the ongoing Enugu-Onitsha Expressway. That road is a 110 kilometres, which is being dualised. So, you have 110 kilometres times two.”
FEC also approved the establishment of a fire truck maintenance and refurbishment centre to be sited in Katsina State at the cost of N13,020,022,803.
“So, the second memorandum is approval for the award of contracts for the establishment of Fire Truck Maintenance and Refurbishment Centre in Katsina. And this is a very critical procurement for us. It is to attend to all the issues we’re having with fire tenders all over the country,” he said.
FEC also approved the establishment of a Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO) centre to be established as a Public Private Partnership (PPP) with Messrs AJW Consortium as the concessionaire and using the Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) PPP model.
Also, Council approved the award of contract for the Nigeria Police Trust Fund for the supply of vehicles and insurance cover for other vehicles at a total cost of N4,541,829,704.17.
Dingyadi gave the specification of the contract as Toyota Land Cruisers, Toyota Prado 2021 model and Toyota Camry.
The council also approved N592,271,792.48 for the procurement of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) equipment for the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital (OAUTH), Ile-Ife, Osun State.
Joseph explained that the procurement became necessary because of poor services to patients suffering from ailments requiring thorough diagnosis.
Garba Shehu, who briefed on behalf of the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, said the council ratified the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 181.
The ratification of the convention, he explained, was to protect the rights of the people as government would want all employees to be treated with dignity.
Source: TheNation
