The seventh weekly virtual Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on Wednesday approved projects worth N109.1 billion for the Ministry of Works/ Housing and the Ministry of Education.
The ministry of works will receive N108.443b for four projects comprising the completion of the Enugu-Lokponta section of the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway; Numan road linking Borno and Adamawa states, Gombe-Biu Road connecting Adamawa and Borno States as well as the Dikwa-Marte Road.
The balance of N744,264,000 will be spent by the Ministry of Education as counterpart fund for the renovation of 18 blocks of hostels for 4,032 students of the Kaduna Polytechnic (KADPOLY) .
The FEC meeting, presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari received two memoranda from the Ministry of Works and Housing and one from the Education Ministry.
Minister of Works and Housing Babatunde Fashola and Education Adamu Adamu; Information Lai Mohammed; Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyema; Special Duties George Akume; and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Zubairu Dada, briefed the media after the meeting.
Fashola said: “The Ministry of Works and Housing presented two memoranda. The first one was to aid the completion of the Enugu – Lokponta section of the Enugu – Port Harcourt highway. It was meant to augment the existing contract by N25 billion. The council approved it.
“The second memoranda was the award of three different roads – The first is Dikwa-Marte-Mungunu road for N60. 273 billion and the Numan road linking Borno and Adamawa for N15.527 billion and the third is for Gombi-Biu linking Adamawa and Borno also for N7.643 billion.”
The contract, which is a 15-year concession at the cost of N744,264 million, is under a Renovate Operate, Maintain and Transfer (ROMT) arrangement.
He said: “It will take one year to construct the hostels, after which the contractor will run it for 15 years within which they will recover what they have sunk into the project.
“There are 18 blocks of hostels and each room in a block will house four students. The total number of students to be housed will be 4,032.”
Also, Onyema and Akume, said they presented their scorecards since the administration took off in 2019 to the council.
Onyeama said Nigeria was trying to change its foreign policy direction to “reflect the reality of today and the reality of national interest.”
He added that the ministry had helped Nigerians to secure top positions at regional and continental organisations.
