FG Approves N1.8tn Road Projects, New Contracts

The Federal Executive Council on Monday approved the rescoping of old highway contracts and new reads worth about N1.81tn, consisting of N760.4bn in naira-denominated projects with a separate $651.7m (N1.05tn) facility for the 7th Axial Road linking the Lekki Deep‑Sea Port to Sagamu‑Ore. The Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, revealed this to State House Correspondents at the end of the 25th meeting of the Federal Executive Council under the Bola Tinubu administration, at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.

Umahi explained, “FEC approved the rescoping of a project that is within Ondo State and Ekiti State and approved that the funds available be used to do 15 kilometres of the 18.438 kilometres dualised. And so, the FEC had earlier approved that we should be able to rescope all the inherited projects within the available funds. So we say that 15 kilometer is been rescoped for a contract sum of N19.407bn and that is rescoping/variation of dualisation of Akure-Eta-Ogburu-Ijo-Ekiti border to Ikere-Ado-Ekiti section one, and that is in Ekiti state, and spanning to Ondo State. That was approved.

“The second approval came from the rescoping and variation of the Sokoto road that goes to Zamfara, Katsina and Kaduna. It is a total of 375 kilometres dualised, and we inherited it even though it was awarded at the twilight of the last administration. It was divided into four sections.

“The first section, being done by SKCC starting from Sokoto to Zamfara, is being done on reinforced concrete. The second section is done in Zamfara axis, and is being done by Setraco, and that’s the section that was originally awarded.

Meanwhile, the Maiduguri-Mongonu Road will be constructed “30 kilometres at a time,” starting with N21bn for the first phase.

“Phase one is 30 kilometres, and that is for a contract sum of N21bn for 30 kilometres. The second phase is going to come as soon as this first section is completed, and then it will be brought before FEC,” he said.

The minister also listed fresh approvals for the Ebonyi Abakaliki–Afikpo flyover at N25bn, Ikoga–Atan–Ado‑Odo Road in Ogun at N37.045bn, a N150bn rescope of the Enugu–Onitsha Road now partly funded by the MTN tax credit, and N187bn to finish the remaining 96 kilometres of the Benin–Shagamu–Ore highway. So we also have four projects that were awarded by the Federal Executive Council. The first one is in Ebony state, Abakali-Afikpo fly over. It was awarded for N25bn. There is a second section, another one within this lot. It is the construction of Ikoga Road and Atan-Alapoti-Ado-Odo Road in Ogun state, and that is awarded for a contract sum of N37.045bn

According to Umahi, the shoreline at Ebute‑Ero/Outer Marina in Lagos will also be rebuilt for N176.495bn to arrest “severe coastal erosion threatening military and naval bases.”

He said the council also cleared the Ebute‑Ero Outer Marina shoreline rehabilitation at N176.495bn, the Benin–Shagamu–Ore dualisation (96 km) for N187bn, the Enugu–Onitsha Road rescope for N150bn, and the Abakaliki–Afikpo fly‑over and Ikoga–Atan–Ado‑Odo Road for N25bn and N37.045bn respectively.

Umahi also announced that more than 70 per cent of Section 1 of the Lagos–Calabar coastal highway is done, 10 km of the Sokoto–Badagry concrete stretch at Kebbi “will be ready for commissioning by May 25,” and international lenders have praised the procurement as excellent and even “undervalued. 30 kilometres is going to be made available for Mr. President to commission. And another 10 kilometres is going to be made available for section two.

Umobong said, “Today at the federal executive council meeting, the memorandum on ecological projects was approved. You may be aware that some of the dams were constructed as far back as 1974. So, three contracts were awarded. One is the rehabilitation and expansion of Tiga Dam in the Kano River Irrigation project. This is awarded to MSSRS Masaki Limited at the cost of N11.84bn.

“The second is the rehabilitation and expansion of the irrigation scheme of the Shalangwa Gorge Dam, which UYK Nigeria Limited has been awarded at a cost of N7.47bn. The last is the rehabilitation of the Kafin Chiri irrigation project, which has been awarded at a cost of N7.04bn.”

She explained that the projects were necessary for ecological remediation to sustain structural integrity and prevent flooding.

“This intervention will positively impact 30,000 farm families, 50,000 acres of arable agricultural land, and it will enable three annual farming cycles through irrigation, and this will also generate over 300,000 jobs,” the Permanent Secretary said, listing erosion control, watershed management across 16 Kano local governments and full ecological rehabilitation among the deliverables.