…Blames collapsed of a section of the Lokoja-Kabba road on natural causes.
Olusola Bello
Federal Government has approved the reconstruction of concrete road from Kabba to the boundary between Kogi and Ekiti states.
Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola who made this known when he received Kogi State House of Assembly Committee on Works lead by its Speaker, Prince Matthew Kolawole said the Project is to be executed by Dangote company.
Fashola stated that the federal government has committed huge resources to road construction, maintenance and rehabilitation over the years, noting that the ministry is currently working on fourteen federal roads that either link Kogi state or passes through, while seventeen special interventions are also ongoing with the repairs of bridges.
According to him, the ministry’s goal is to fix all federal roads in the country at once but has been limited due to resources, and other needs that are also important to human existence, saying it is whatever the national assembly approves for them to spend that they will use.
He told the visitors that Kogi State federal lawmakers led by Senator Smart Adeyemi recently when visited him on the same subject matter, advising them to reach out to their neighboring states to have a consensus on roads they want the ministry to concentrate fund on.
The Minister pointed out that the current administration led by President Muhammad Buhari is committed to infrastructure renewal which was necessitated borrowing to finance most of the ongoing critical projects across the country.
Speaker of the Kogi State House of Assembly, Prince Matthew Kolawole said the visit was necesitated sequel to
the resolution of the House on the deplorable state of federal roads in the State which has hindered smooth
movement of goods and services.
Prince Kolawole explained that despite the efforts of Governor Yahaya Bello’s administration to fix some of the federal roads, they still find it expedient to call on the federal government to come to their aid in fixing the federal roads across the state.
He said the deplorable state of the federal roads in the three senatorial districts of the state are worrisome and have caused a lots of havoc to motorists, noting that Kogi State is bordered by nine states including the FCT, centrally located within the country and a major link between north and southern region.
The Speaker noted that on Tuesday, the Kabba-Obajana-Lokoja road close to Apata community caved in causing traffic jams and blockage for commuters plying the route
Meanwhile the Federal Executive Council (FEC) gave the approvals at its Wednesday’s weekly meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House, Abuja approved the execution of N86.6 billion worth of contracts in the ministries of Aviation as well as Works and Housing.
It also approved the draft national policy on Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) just as the Works and Housing Minister, Babatunde Fashola yesterday canvassed for the setting up of road maintenance contingency fund to cater for the repairs of federal highways across the country.
Fashola, who briefed newsmen after the FEC meeting, said Council approved for the Ministry of Works and Housing, contract for the dualisation of the Odukpani-Itu-Ikot Ekpene road at the cost of N79.649 billion.
He explained that the contract was for the section from Oku Iboku Power Plant to Abak of about 26 kilometre stretch.
According to him: “The Ministry of Works and Housing presented the memorandum for the completion of the dualisation of the Odukpani-Itu-Ikot Ekpene road. And this is in relation to the section from Oku Iboku Power Plant to Abak of about 26 kilometre stretch.
“Council approved the award to Messers Sematech Nigeria Limited for N79.649 billion to be executed over 16 months. So, this will help complete the dualisation gaps between the one awarded to Julius Berger and the section awarded to CCECC. “When this is done, motorists in that area will now have an option of the dual carriageway instead of the existing single carriageway.
“And this is in recognition of the heavy cargo that passes through that area from the South-south through to the North central, Benue through Katsina Ala through to the South east to Abia. It is a very important trade link for the country.”
Part of the road project had in 2020 been awarded at the N54 billion.
Giving an update on the 2020 contract award for the same project, Fashola regretted that there had been paucity fund to implement the project.
He said: “Okay, first of all, it’s important for us to have a common understanding of the area, that is the rain forest area of Nigeria, mangrove areas, very high water table and rains in seven, eight months of the year.
“So, when we awarded the first section, from Odukpani-Itu to Julius Berger in 2016, they could not move to site because of the limited budgetary requisitions.
“So, that slowed down work in that area and they didn’t move to site until 2018. And the second section, which was from Abak to Ikot Ikot Ekpene was awarded in last year, February 2020. We have had to mobilise some Suku resources to the area.
“Sometimes last year, you might recall that I was there visiting with the governor, I actually went twice and we focused first on the link road from Alese Ugep area because that was a very big bad one, that one use to take like, three, four days to traverse a 70 kilometer road.
“Now, we have that under control, resolved, motorable in the first phase to Odukpani. That has
He said for Lagos, it was for the expansion of terminal building at domestic terminal GAT at the sum of N2,817,579,271.99. For the Katsina Airport, it was for the expansion of the Katsina Airport Apron, awarded at N527,353,693.12.
According to him, there were also the expansion of Lagos Cargo Apron Area awarded at N1,982,943,242.81, expansion of Abuja Domestic Apron Area at N795,976,947.94 and the expansion of Kano Apron Area at N1,059,120,234.37.
On her part, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs Disaster Management, Social Development, Sadiya Farouk, said the council approved a memo for the approval of the draft national policy on internally displaced persons in Nigeria.