FEC approves N21.11bn for Aviation, Education and others
* Grants FUPRE N2.7bn for infrastructure
By Chesa Chesa
The Federal Executive Council (FEC), at its meeting on Wednesday presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, approved contracts totalling N21,107,212,510, for various projects in the Ministries of Aviation and Education, among others.
Briefing State House Correspondents at the end of the meeting, the
Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, announced this at a news briefing also attended by Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina and the Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba.
Sirika said FEC approved four memoranda for his Ministry, the total cost of which amounted to N16,697,742,839.
According to him, the projects to be executed in the contracts include construction of Wachakal Airport in Yobe State at N6.3 billion; post-construction services for the same airport at the cost of N219.8 million; procurement of eight airport rescue and firefighting vehicles at the cost of N9.5 billion; and a contract for the deployment of sniffer dogs to the Lagos and Abuja international airports at the cost of N658.8 million.
“In our drive to develop the sector and ensure connectivity within our region and also improve on our security architecture and also attend to the various needs of civilization, we found this airport and many others that are coming across the country useful”, he explained.
Nwajiuba, on his part said the Council approved a contract in favour of the Federal University of Petroleum Resources Effurun (FUPRE), Delta state, for the construction of facilities, including hostels, administrative blocks and a new library at the cost of N2.7 billion.
Adesina, said FEC approved contracts worth N1,709,469,671 for four federal agencies including Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) and National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).
According to him, while a total of N187.5 million was approved for procurement of operational vehicles for the FRSC, a total of N537 million was approved for NEITI’s permanent office building for its head office, and a total of N985 million for the procurement and installation of dual body scanners for four international airports in the country.
“The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) got approval to procure operational vehicles at N187,469,669.25 and that is to reduce carnage on our roads and to meet its goals of reducing accidents by at least 15% and fatalities by 20%.
“For the Ministry of Health, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in particular also got approval to procure some vehicles for its use.
“NEITI, which is, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative was given approval to acquire a Permanent Office Building for N537,000,000 to be used as its head office. NEITI has been in a rented place.
“There was also an approval for the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) to procure and install four Body Dual View Scanners Solution with x-ray management software at Lagos, Port Harcourt, Enugu, and Kano Airports at N985,000,002.40.
“For the Ministry of Water Resources, there was approval for the revised estimated total cost for supervision consultancy contract of Ile-Ife Multipurpose Dam Project in Osun State. Those are some of the approvals at the meeting today”, he said.
