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FEC approves N84.6bn for road, airports’ projects

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By Gistflash News

Sept 1, 2021

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved over N5 billion naira for various contracts in Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Katsina airports.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting of the Council, which was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja on Wednesday, also approved the dualization of the Odukpani-Itu-Ikot Ekpene road at the cost of N79.649 billion.

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Special adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, and the Minister of Works, Babatunde Fashola, revealed this while briefing State House correspondents on decisions reached by the Council at the weekly cabinet meeting.

Adesina said: “The Minister of Aviation presented a memo for the approval of the award of contracts at the Murtala Mohammed international airport Lagos, Nnnamdi Azikiwe international airport Abuja, Aminu Kano international airport Kano and Katsina airport in Katsina State.

“For Lagos, it is for the expansion of the terminal building at domestic terminal GAT for the sum of N2, 817, 579, 271.99. For the Katsina airport, it is for the expansion of the airport’s apron awarded at N527, 353, 095.12.

“There is also the expansion of Lagos cargo apron areas awarded at N1,982. 943, 242.31.

“Council also approved the expansion of Abuja domestic apron areas at N795, 976, 947.34 and also the expansion of Kano apron area at the cost of N1, 059, 120, 254.37,”

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Adesina said when completed, the contracts would go a long way in improving the air transportation network in the country.

On his part, Fashola revealed that the Council approved the dualization of the Odukpani-Itu-Ikot Ekpene road at the cost of N79.649 billion.

According to the minister, the approved contract is in relation to the section from Oku Iboku Power Plant to Abak of about 26 kilometre stretch.

“The Ministry of Works and Housing presented the memorandum for the completion of the dualization 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 Ltd for N79.649 billion to be executed over 16 months.

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“So, this will help complete the dualization 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’s very very important trade link for the country.”

Asked to give an update on the 2020 contract award for the same project, Fashola expressed regret that there had been paucity of 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.

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“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 Ekpene was awarded in last year, February 2020. We have had to mobilise some Sukuk resources to the area.

“Sometime 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 used 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 reduced the journey time there to less than two hours, from days. So, again, it’s a work in progress.’’

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On the recent collapsed of a section of the Lokoja-Kabba road, the minister attributed the incident to natural causes.

He said: “As we go through the rainy season, this is the context in which to locate the Lokoja-Kabba.

“It’s a failure caused by nature and aging. And, again, an opportunity to share with you what we have. We expect that these things will happen, but we don’t know where it will happen every time.”

While noting that his ministry was often unable to respond to such failures, he called for the setting up of a contingency maintenance fund, which he said should have a sizable amount.

“So, we’ve been proposing that Nigeria should have an emergency provision in the works budget, but we haven’t been successful enough.

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“There must be a contingency, a sizable sum, because when we see failures, last year, we had a problem like that in Kebbi, where roads were washed away.

“We couldn’t respond because we didn’t have the resources. But we will lean on FERMA.

“Well, traditionally back in Lagos when I was governor, I think we used to provide about five per cent of our capital expenditure as a contingency fund for emergencies. Something between three and five per cent varies across the world,” he said.

NAN

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Gunmen Attack Anambra Police Station, Kill Four Officers

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Gunmen Attack Anambra Police Station, Kill Four Officers
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Unknown gunmen in the early hours of Wednesday attacked a police station located in Atani, the headquarters of Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State.

It was gathered that the gunmen launched the attack on the police facility around 1:30 am on Wednesday.

A further report had it that four police officers were killed in the attack.

Since the emergence of Charles Soludo as the Governor of Anambra State there had been series of attacks on police and government facilities in the state.

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Meanwhile, the spokesman of the state police command, DSP Toochukwu Ikenga, has confirmed the development.

He said, “The hoodlums came around 1 a.m., and unlucky for us, four police operatives paid the supreme price.”

“The Commissioner of Police, CP Echeng Echeng on hearing of the attack immediately mobilized men of the command from various units to the area.

“The hoodlums were still there when the CP personally led men of the command to the affected area, and the timely arrival saved the day and the hoodlums were successfully repelled, and the facility was saved.

“We have commenced intelligence already, and we hope to unravel the persons behind the attack.”

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Supreme Court Affirms Six-Year Jail Term For Former Director Of Pensions, John Yakubu

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Supreme Court Affirms Six-Year Jail Term For Former Director Of Pensions, John Yakubu

Supreme Court Affirms Six-Year Jail Term For Former Director Of Pensions, John YakubSupreme Court Affirms Six-Year Jail Term For Former Director Of Pensions, John Yakubu

The Supreme Court has affirmed the six years imprisonment imposed on a former Federal Director of Pensions, Mister John Yakubu, and also ordered him to refund the sum of N22.9b to the Federal Government.

The N22.9b was part of the police pension fund he admitted before a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to have been misappropriate

Justice Tijjani Abubakar in a judgment in an appeal filed by Yusuf upheld the decision of the Court of Appeal which in 2018 sent him to six years imprisonment in addition to the refund of the sum.

The apex court held that Yusuf and others engaging in fraudulent practices must be told through court judgments that it is no longer business as usual.

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Sept 26, 2021A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mallam Yusuf Ali, says it is not to late for members of the  National Assembly to revisit the issue of  electronic transmission of election results to ensure credibility.Ali, who made the remarks while speaking in an interview with newsmen on Sunday in Osogbo, said the more credible elections were, the less litigations they will attract.The  News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports  that the Nigerian Senate had on July 16, passed the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, 2021, after division among its members on the electronic transmission of results.

The clause 52(2) of the bill gives the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) the discretion to determine when, where and how voting and transmission of results will be done.

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The Senate had ruled out the possibility of having results transmitted electronically when it voted that the NCC, with the National Assembly’s approval, would determine whether INEC could transmit results electronically or not.

Similarly, the House of Representatives, on July 16, passed the Electoral Act (Amendment) Bill, maintaining the controversial Clause 52(2) as presented amidst protests, especially by members of the minority caucus.

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Justice Abubakar said that the appeal of the former federal pension director seeking to set aside the six years jail term against him was frivolous and devoid of merit.

He further held that victims of the convicted director deserve restitution which can only be achieved through justice.

Yusuf had dragged the Federal Government before the apex court seeking to overturn the six years imprisonment slammed on by the Court of Appeal.

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The former pensions director, who is serving the six years jail term at the Kuje correctional facility, also asked the Supreme Court to set aside a whopping sum of N22.9 billion he was ordered to refund to the government treasury by the Court of Appeal in a 2018 judgment.

He was sent to prison in 2018 by the Court of Appeal in Abuja upon being found guilty of defrauding the Federal Government to the tune of N22.9 billion through police pensions.

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Stakeholders task Nigerian youths on good governance, leadership advocacy

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Dr Odiakpo Obire, the founder of Good leadership for Africa, an Abuja based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) said the aim of the awards were to encourage African leaders to take their place as leaders among world leaders.
He said the youths of Africa had what it takes to elect the right leaders into offices as this was fundamental to their future and the success of the country.


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Abuja Nov 5, 2021 (NAN) Stakeholders in governance have urged Nigerian youths to be advocates of good governance and leadership in order to make Nigeria a better place.

They gave the advice in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) at the second global good governance awards and summit held in Abuja on Friday.

The theme for the award is “ Good governance mentality for global impact.

Dr Odiakpo Obire, the founder of Good leadership for Africa, an Abuja based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) said the aim of the awards were to encourage African leaders to take their place as leaders among world leaders.

He said the youths of Africa had what it takes to elect the right leaders into offices as this was fundamental to their future and the success of the country.

According to him, good governance and leadership are achievable and controllable by the youths.
“ Good governance and leadership make strong institutions.

“ The Africa and Nigeria of our dreams cannot be achieved if youths neglect accountability and advocacy of good leadership’, he said.

Obire stated that everyone appointed into a leadership position could help achieve a great Nigeria if they put the needs of the masses first and do what was expected of them.

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“ From the Federal Government to the local government, to the appointees to the least held office, everyone has the responsibility to do the right thing, ” he said.

He said democracy in Nigeria is over 22 years and youths had to rise to the responsibility of advocating for good leadership and accountability.

“ Good governance starts from selecting good leaders by the youths, ” he said.

Amb. Louis Temisan, Mayorking Ultimate International Magazine said a lot of people, institutions and NGOs are worthy of celebration because they advocate good governance.

“ People, institutions and NGOs who are staff minded, support youth empowerment, community development deserve all the celebration and recognition, ” he said.

According to him, advocating for and publicising good governance will challenge other lacking leaders to do better in their respective communities.

Amb. Anthony Nwangwu disclosed that good governance should be measured by good directions and steps taken by a leader to ensure life was easy for people.

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He said good governance is not measured by the number of cars a leader has or how much cash they throw around.

Nwangwu said good governance affects every facets of life.

NAN reports that about 30 people from the private and public sectors were recipients of different awards.

Some category of these awards include, award of Excellence in Human resource, award of best security outfit and award of best youth empowerment. (NAN)

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