The federal government has granted N260.5 billion as a variation order for repair and completion of various sections of the country’s East-West Road projects.
This is in response to the recent floods’ impact on the vital road that connects Nigeria’s eastern region to the rest of the country.
The FEC’s approval of the fund is consistent with President Muhammudu Buhari’s promise to strengthen the nation’s transportation infrastructure and repair its road network as a method of creating jobs and boosting the economy.
The fund was also approved in response to a memorandum submitted to the Council by the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, and presided over by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.
The memorandum document, dated October 27, 2022, covers the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs’ request for additional works and a review of unit rates for the outstanding works required to complete the East-West road projects, for which President Muhammudu Buhari directed the Ministry of Works and Housing to revalidate the proposal.
Following a directive from the President, the Ministry of Works and Housing established a Task Allocation Committee (TAC) made up of its officers and the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs (MNDA), which conducted a site inspection on the East-West Road projects’ Sections I–IV from October 14–16, 2022, to determine whether any augmentation or additional work was necessary to complete the projects.
According to the memorandum, the contracts for the dualisation of East – West Road projects Sections I – IV from Warri – Port Harcourt – Eket-Oron (338) were awarded at different dates and are at different levels of completion.
However, the Sections covered in the Federal Executive Council’s approval included Section III: Port Harcourt (Eleme Junction ) – Onne Port Junction in Rivers State in the sum of N156.7B being handled by Messrs RCC Nigeria Limited and Section II: Subsection I (Port Harcourt – Ahoada) in Rivers State in the sum of N64.3bn being done by Messrs Setraco Nigeria Limited as well as Section II: Subsection II (Ahoada – Kaiama) in Bayelsa and Rivers States in the sum of N144.7B being handled by the same construction company.
Others are Section IV : Eket – Oron Road in Akwa Ibom State in the sum of N64.3B being handled by Messrs Gitto Nigeria Limited and Section IV : Eket – Oron Bypass in Akwa Ibom State in the sum of N76.8B being handled by the same construction company. With the approved variation order, the contract sum for the East – West Road project Sections I – IV has changed from N246 billion to N506 billion.
The memorandum detailed the scope of work that required the requests for expansion in each section, including unfinished projects, the asphalting of inner and outer shoulders, the repair of carriageway settlement, the building of additional drainage and culvert works, the construction of a flyover, and the repair of damaged bridges, among other things.
The Minister of Works and Housing explained that the approval would allow the contractors to carry out repair works with respect to Sections of the East – West Road in the Niger Delta that were affected during the recent flooding in some parts of the country while presenting the memorandum, which was in line with the Federal Government’s continued engagement in providing assistance and resolving issues surrounding the recent flooding.
Related posts:
FEC approves variation order for repair of East- West road project
FEC approves additional N5.4bn for Enugu/Onitsha road
FEC appoints committee to inspect East-West road
Truck drivers protest, disrupt traffic on east-west road over death of colleague by unnamed task force
Akpabio assures of competition of East-West road
Peter Igbifa emerges 8th President Of IYC, wants East-West road completed
FG to spend half a Trillion Naira to complete East-West Road
Buhari directs NNPC to fix section 4 of East-West Road in Port Harcourt
