FG votes over N21b for aviation, education, others

FEDERAL government has approved the sum of N21,107,212,510 for various projects in the aviation, education and other sectors.

  The approval was made during the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari in Presidential Villa, Abuja, yesterday,

  Briefing State House Correspondents at the end of the meeting, Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi 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 civilisation, we found this airport and many others that are coming across the country useful,” he said.

  On his part, Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba, said FEC approved contract for Federal University of Petroleum Resources Effurun (FUPRE), Delta State, for construction of hostels, administrative blocks and a new library at the cost of N2.7 billion.

  Also briefing reporters, Special Assistant to the President on Meida and Publicity, Femi 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 per cent. 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,” he said.