By Stephen Angbulu
The Federal Executive Council on Wednesday approved a total of N386.75bn for various projects in the federal ministries of Power, Police Affairs, Environment, Works and Housing and Transportation.
The various ministers revealed the respective memorandum approved by the council and the corresponding amounts earmarked for the projects shortly after this week’s Federal Executive Council meeting chaired by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.
The Minister of Power, Abubakar Aliyu, revealed that the council approved a memorandum for the provision of alternative power supply to line to Maiduguri, the Borno State capital which he said, had been disconnected from the national grid for 24 months due to insurgency.
“I presented three memos to council which have been approved and the memos as follows. One is to have an alternative supply line for of electricity for Maiduguri through 33 KV line along the road site. Maiduguri got disconnected due to the activities of insurgents and have been disconnected from the national grid for around 24 months.
“So, we are now trying to supply through another new line. What this memo seeks to achieve is a double cycle 33KV which will take up to around 14megawatts to Maiduguri from the Damaturu 330 substation. And the reason is that the 33KV line will be easier to restore even if something affects it because it is by the roadside and it is on concrete poles or wooden poles.
“So this memo still goes on to provide the 33 line alternative double circuit at a cost of N3,164,293,880 plus N250m for security and other logistics, a total of N3.4bn naira and is awarded to SodoGuru Nigeria Limited with a completion period of three months.
“The second one seeks to provide substations one Geidam in Yobe State and the other one in Zing in Taraba State. These are all local government headquarters. Geiden is a local government headquarters at the border to Niger and our intention is to provide substations 1-3-2 substations in each of the local government across the country.
“The project substation at Zing will cost $12,352,896.24 with a Naira component of N2,701,805,061.34 at the prevailing exchange rate at the time of payment.
“The Geidam project will cost $11,629,824.81 with Naira component of N2,641,257,634.84. Both projects have a completion period of 24 months.
“A third memo presented by the ministry has five substations and one-line construction.”
According to Aliyu, “The first among the six is to provide a substation of two by 60MVA in Birnin Kudu in Jigawa State cost of $13,438,265.40 plus naira component of N2,969,365,195.15 with a completion period of 24 months.
“The second one is to provide same in Kazaure at the cost of $14,389,822.22 with naira component of N2,245,456,369,309.68 at 24-month delivery period.
“The third one is at Nguru in Yobe State which is also same capacity of substation. As ditto at $12,420,300.13 plus naira component of N3,408,878,700.24 with completion period of 24 months.
“The fourth one is at Barbura the same substitution at $19,636,889.80 plus naira component of N5,656,558,494.91 with 24 month completion period.
“The fifth one is a 60KVA at Oro substation, in Irepodun Local Government of Kwara State at $8,147,234.31 plus Naira component of N3,557,642,765.64 with the same completion period of 24 months.
“The last is the 222 kilometre 1-3-2 transmission line from Birnin Kudu, passing through Gwaram, Missau, Ningi and Azare in Jigawa to Bauchi State, at $25,850,704.14 plus Naira component of N9,473,666,386.54. The contractor is Chris Egik International Agencies Limited with completion period of 24 months.”
On his part, the Minister of Police Affairs, Maigari Dingyadi, disclosed that the council approved N13.32bn for the Group Life Assurance Scheme for 318,319 personnel of the Nigeria Police Force.
The contract, he said, is for the engagement of underwriters and brokers for life assurance that runs effective from October 26, 2022 to October 26, 2023.
The underwriters include Leadway Assurance Plc as the lead underwriter and three others as co-underwriters.
According to Dingyadi, the move is to “encourage the officers and men working to ensure the security of life and property” and to enable them to do more.
The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, disclosed that the council approved four memos from his ministry.
They include; the award of the section one of the Minna-Zungeru-Tegina-Kontagora highway in favour of a joint venture, DeValco HMF Construction in the some of it is N87.40bn to be funded as previously approved in 2021 under the Tax Credit Scheme.
The second was presented on behalf of the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency for the award of contract for the construction of the Iseri North Road in Lagos that connects Ogun State.
The contract was approved in favour of MSSRS Acute Option Limited with a contract price is N2,104,483,739.
The third approval was with respect to an existing contract, whose prices have had to be augmented because of changes in cost of materials inflation and variation of prices, and also to accommodate changes in the fiscal policy between when the project was first awarded in 2014.
Fashola said the contract received an approval for augmentation of an additional N45,829,989,605.
The final approval from the Ministry of Works was with respect to the pension payments for members of staff of the now defunct Federal Mortgage Finance Limited. This stood at N4,774,517,205 with an additional N41.96m.
The Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Sambo, revealed that his ministry received approval for four major projects and concessions.
They include the contract for the upgrade of the National Ports Authority Data Centre at N1,787,203,792.65 with 7.5 per cent Value Added Tax.
The second, Sambo noted, was a 20-year concession hinged on the public-private partnership in respect of the construction of the eastern zone offshore waste reception facility.
He said the eastern zone concession has been granted on “no-cure-no-pay” basis for 10 years to MSSRS Expo Marine Limited, who are going to be sole investors in the project.
Sambo said the facility would generate about $755m in those two decades.
The proceeds would be shared between the Federal Government, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency and the investing company on a 20-20-60 per cent basis for a period of 10 years.
The concession is renewable upon satisfactory performance and renegotiated terms for another 10 years, after which the investment reverts to the Federal Government.
The third memo, according to the minister, is a similar arrangement around for the western and central zones of Nigeria’s maritime domain.
It is approved in favour of MSSRS African Cycle Pollution Management for 10 years, with an option to renegotiate renewal times for an additional 10 years on a “no-cure-no-pure” basis.
The revenue sharing formula is also 20-20-60 per cent between the FG, NIMASA and the investing company.
The fourth was in respect to another PPP proposal by NIMASA to enable it effectively deploy the modal floating dock that was acquired by the agency in 2018.
“It is going to be managed under contract management in favor of MSSRs JMarine Logistics Limited who would put in an investment and initial investment capital of about $19.50m for a concession period of 15 years,” Sambo said.
The Minister of Environment, Mohammed Abdullahi, said FEC approved a total of N123.50bn for remediation and power projects in Ogoni land.
According to him, the goal of the projects is to provide succour to the Ogoni people in terms of succor and livelihood.
He explained, “So the first memo is on remediation of simple hydrocarbon impact sites in a Ogoni land in favour of about 35 contractors for a completion period of 24 months. The cumulative value of the contract is N95,908,284,482.91.
“Then the second memo that touches on the livelihood program of the Ogoni people is the construction of 132 KV transmission lines in brackets 60 kilometers and 260 MVA power substations for the phase one of the Ogoni Power Project in Wuyakara and Bodo in Ogoniland, in favour of MSSRS Inagogot Engineering Limited. It costs N27,585,139,105.13 and also has a completion period of 12 months.”
