Chineme Okafor in Abuja
In preparation for the closure of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja and rerouting of Abuja-bound flights to Kaduna, the firm, Messrs CGC Nigeria Limited, contracted by the federal government to repair the Abuja-Kaduna highway at a contract sum of N1.058 billion, has requested that 50 per cent of the sum be paid first by the government, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, has said.
Fashola said the 50 per cent down payment request by CGC was against Nigeria’s procurement law, and that though the contractor was currently having difficulty with the financing, the issues would eventually be resolved and the road fixed.
He, however, noted that the firm had mobilised its resources to site, and a 50-day work completion time agreed with it to get the highway ready for use under the emergency road repair.
A statement from Fashola’s Senior Special Assistant on Communication, Mr. Hakeem Bello, yesterday in Abuja stated that the minister made this disclosure during a Senate hearing on the planned airport closure.
He stated that when it was realised that the Kaduna airport would be the alternative airport during the closure of Abuja, his ministry utilised the provisions of the emergency provisions of the public procurement Act to seek and obtain the approval of the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) for the emergency rehabilitation of the bad sections of the Kaduna-Abuja highway at a cost of N1.058 billion.
According to him, the contractor moved to site on January 7, 2017 and would from the work plan they have submitted to the ministry, complete its work on February 28, 2017.
“They have moved men and materials to site and this is the consequence of the confidence that has begun to come back to the construction industry since the implementation of the 2016 budget that you passed.
“However, they were asking for a 50 per cent down payment which the procurement law does not permit to make, which is also a matter that is pending before different Committees of the House to amend the procurement Act,” said Fashola in the statement.
On the choice of Kaduna, instead of Minna, Airport, as the alternative airport, Fashola explained that given the current conditions of both roads, the Kaduna-Abuja highway currently lent itself more to the kind of emergency intervention to restore it to motorability within the short time assigned for the completion of the airport runway rehabilitation.
“While the road distance from Minna to Abuja is about 156 kilometres and Kaduna to Abuja is about 186 kilometres, a difference of 30 kilometres or thereabouts, I have driven on both roads recently and the Kaduna-Abuja road is in much better condition than Minna-Abuja, and lends itself more quickly to the implementation of this kind of emergency repairs,” he explained.
Fashola stated that his ministry was offering a complementary role to the aviation ministry.
