News
FCT minister gives low-down on $53m saved from $128m contract awarded by Buhari
The minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike has disclosed how his administration was able to save $53m for Nigeria from contract of $128m approved by the immediate past adminiatration of President Muhammadu Buhari
He said the administration of President Bola Tinubu met the contract for the operation of the Abuja Metro Light Rail at a whopping $128million.
Speaking before the Senate Committees on FCT and FCT Areas Councils that the administration was forced to demand details and urgent reviews of the sum because there was no way the Federal Government could afford to pay such an amount.
Wike, who appeared before the committees to defend the N1.1trillion statutory budget of the FCT for this year, told lawmakers that the contract was signed by the government of his predecessor, former President Muhammadu Buhari.
Narrating the encounter between him and the contractor, CCECC, the minister said he got to learn that the cost of operations also covered personnel training for 29 months.
He stated, “This was projected by the last administration. We did a review and brought it down to $75m, in the process, saving about $53m for the government.
Wike added, It had to do with the Metroline. “The cost for the construction is different, the cost for the operation where CCECC is insisting, we train our people 29months so and it was approved by FEC before this administration $128m.”
“I told CCECC, you have made your money in the construction and you don’t want this job to go on, convert $128m how much is it.
“Obviously you are saying that this thing will not work and it is a sabotage. I look at it, I told my team to call the contractor for us to sit in argument.
“We argued back and forth and I insited no, it is better we leave the contract. To cough out $128m from where? At the end if the day the committee recommended $63m I said OK.
“By the end of the day we came up with $75m because of the additional work and since we are preparing for the opening on the 29th because there are 12 Stations where we have to put them in order. That is why it became $75m and I have told them to prepare the agreement and let them go and start working.
“There is no way for operation to train our people to gulp $128m it is unbelievable
I had made it known to that council and if they had not agreed no option but to tell the.President, there is nothing we can do, we can not go kn with the project. $128m at what Naira to a dollar? Calculate it.
Even $75m calculate it.”
Commenting on the delay or non-ompletion of public projects, the minister spoke of his belief that most government contracts were “inflated”, adding that he owned no one apologies for taking that stance.
According to Wike, contracts inflated deliberately because government doesn’t pay on time, thereby giving contractors and others on the project chain the window to call for variations.
An idea he said he had opted to implement was to use Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) sources to part-fund some projects, while awaiting the releases of main capital budgets and in that way scuttle the plots by contractors and their collaborators in the system to seek variation at the slightest opportunity.
The N1.1tn statutory budget for 2024 is N506.5bn (44%) higher than the revised 2023 budget of N641.2bn.
Wike attributed the difference in the increase to “the expected loan from the commercial bank in the sum of N500bn”, which he said would be applied to new and ongoing projects in the territory.
The Personnel Costs component is N140.9bn, up from N99.5bn in 2023 or a difference of N41.3bn (29%).
“The increase is to accommodate the emoluments of the appointed mandate secretaries and other political appointees of the administration, payment of staff promotion arrears, peculiar allowance, staff wage award arrears and AEPD Conraiss arrears (11 months)”, he explained.
From N135.4m in 2023, the Overhead Costs of the FCT jumped to N280.5bn (24.44%) in 2024.
The minister told the lawmakers the additional N145.1bn would be spent on FCT Security Services; Loan Repayment; Logistics Support to Security Agencies; Operation and Maintenance of Wupa Sewage Treatment Plant; Maintenance of Dump Sites in Satellite Towns; Water Treatment Chemicals; and Welfare Packages (FCT Staff Palliative).
Compared to N2023 when the Capital Allocation was N406.2bn, the budget size for this year is N726.3bn or a 63.28% raise.
Wike also spoke on the challenges of managing land allocation in the FCT, disclosing that up to 1,500 cases were instituted against the administration, a reason it had also earmarked N5.5bn for legal servcyin 2024.
Among other issues, Wike revealed that the administration was battling cases of multiple allocations of the same land to different individuals and organisations.
“This time around, we are ready to take on them head-on; we are going to engage senior lawyers.
“We won’t rely on FCT Civil service lawyers because these ones also collude with those causing problems for for”, he added
Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo State has clinched the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket as the candidate of the party for the forthcoming November 16 governorship election in the state by sefeating fifteen other aspirants in a landslide victory
The Chairman of the Governorship Primary Election Committee and Governor of Kogi State, Ahmed Ododo, made the declaration on Monday morning in Akure, the state capital.
Ododo said Aiyedatiwa clinched the APC ticket with a total of 48,569 votes followed by his closest rival, Mayowa Akinfolarin, who trailed behind with 15,343 votes, while Chief Olusola Oke secured the third position with 14,865 votes.
Below is a breakdown of the final results of the election.
Total number of voters – 117922
Total number of accredited voters – 95,178
Total votes cast – 95178
Invalid – Nil
Jimi Odimayo – 490
Omogoroye Judith – 115
Lucky Aiyedatiwa – 48,569
Isaacs Kekemeke – 1045
Soji Ehinlanwo – 492
Olugbenga Edema – 395
Jimoh lbrahim – 9456
Adekojo Funmilayo – 529
Akinfolarin Samuel – – 15343
Wale Akinterinwa – 1952
Olusola Oke – 14,915
Olamide Ohunyeye – 424
Morayo Lebi – 290
Diran lyantan – 348
Prof Dayo Faduyile – 353
Ife Oyedele – 462
1: Ilaje LG
Lucky Aiyedatiwa 2,485
Wale Akinterinwa. 26
Olusola Oke. 2,511
Jimoh Ibrahim 589
2: Ile Oluji/Okeigbo
Jimoh Ibrahim: 282
AIYEDATIWA: 1225
WA: 474
3: Ondo West LG
Jimoh Ibrahim: 2668
Aiyedatiwa: 10610
4: Ese Odo LG
Aiyedatiwa – 298
Akinterinwa – 0
Oke – 147
Jimoh Ibrahim – 174
5: Owo LG
Aiyedatiwa – 2,123
Akinterinwa – 345
Oke – 225
Jimoh Ibrahim – 192
6: Idanre LG
Aiyedatiwa – 1, 579
Akinterinwa – 119
Oke – 225
Jimoh Ibrahim – 120
7: AKOKO NORTH EAST LG
Aiyedatiwa 1, 664
Akinterinwa 135
Oke 138
Jimoh Ibrahim 505
8: AKOKO NORTH WEST LG
Aiyedatiwa 5, 430
Akinterinwa 198
Oke 2, 721
Jimoh Ibrahim 728
9: AKOKO SOUTH EAST LG
Aiyedatiwa 2, 533
Akinterinwa 43
Oke 391
Jimoh Ibrahim 67
10: AKOKO SOUTH WEST LG
Aiyedatiwa – 2, 747
Akinterinwa – 272
Oke – 415
Jimoh Ibrahim – 466
11: No results for IFEDORE LGA due to alleged violence
12: OSE LGA
Aiyedatiwa 1, 091
Akinterinwa 39
Oke 800
Jimoh Ibrahim 267
13: IRELE LG
Aiyedatiwa 1, 203
Akinterinwa 15
Oke 93
Jimoh Ibrahim 139
14: ODIGBO LG
Aiyedatiwa 2, 631
Akinterinwa 114
Oke 138
Jimoh Ibrahim 845
15: AKURE NORTH LG
Aiyedatiwa 2, 860
Akinterinwa 177
Oke 1, 239
Jimoh Ibrahim 1, 606
16: AKURE SOUTH LG
Aiyedatiwa 3, 265
Akinterinwa 86
Oke 328
Jimoh Ibrahim 294
17 OKITIPUPA LG
Aiyedatiwa 1, 622
Akinterinwa 27
Oke 1, 571
Jimoh Ibrahim 109
18: ONDO EAST LG
Aiyedatiwa 4, 803
Akinterinwa 141
Oke 1, 171
Jimoh Ibrahim 406
Governor Usman Ododo of Kogi State and chairman of the Ondo State All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary election committee has applauded stakeholders and members of the party in the state for their orderly conduct and massive turnout during the direct primary election in the state.
Special Adviser on Media to the Governor Ismaila Isah in a statement quoted the Governor to have given the commendation while receiving reports from members of the APC Governorship Primary Election committee, security agencies and other stakeholders who monitored the conduct of the election in different parts of the 18 local government areas in the state.
According to the Governor
“I have received reports from our committee members and security agencies as well as NGOs monitoring the election including video footages and I can say that the process has been transparent and we are going to produce a candidate that will unify the APC ahead of the November, 2024 governorship election in the state.”
Responding to questions over delay in arrival of materials in some wards and local government areas, Governor Ododo said he was certain that the delay has no adverse effect on the conduct of the primary election.
The Kogi State Governor also expressed confidence that concerns noticed in the revalidated membership list would not have any major impact on the outcome of the primary election, stressing that the committee is well guided by the APC guidelines for the nomination of candidates for general elections and relevant provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.
Governor Ododo called on the aspirants and their supporters to see the primary election as a contest among brothers and sisters in one family seeking to make the family better as candidate of the party in the November, 2024 Governorship election in Ondo State.
The Peter Obi Media Reach (POMR), has alerted the public of a fresh plot to blackmail the 2023 Labour Party Presidential Candidate, Peter Obi by linking him to frivolous, malicious and unsubstantiated allegations of indulging in religious politics.
A statement which was signed POMR spokesperson, Dr. Yunusa Tanko, said he is aware that some persons operating under the guise of civil society, and non-governmental organizations but acting at the behest of some powerful political interests have been deployed to petition and accuse Peter Obi of playing religious politics.
“The motifs is to malign Mr Obi’s purely altruistic motives in supporting underprivileged Nigerians of all faiths. The ploy is to erroneously claim that he goes to religious places to carry out political campaigns off-season.
“We should ordinarily ignore such mischievous ploys as they are only intended to distract attention from Mr Obi’s patriotic and compassionate position.
according to the statement, For the avoidance of doubt and the protection of the gullible in our midst, it has become imperative to restate the truth and the facts.
“Peter Obi understands fully the constitutional dictates of separation of church/mosque and state and that Nigeria is an undisputed secular state.
“Nonetheless, his primary concern in and out of public office has always been to pursue the welfare of the underprivileged in society whom he believes should have a better life given the abundant human and natural resources bestowed on this country by God.
“The organizations that oversee the two dominant religions in the country, Islam and Christianity by their doctrines and concepts of charity are closer to the poor in our midst and naturally attract the generosity of kind hearts like Mr. Peter Obi.
“Peter Obi’s visit to Churches and Mosques is purely prompted by his urge to help the less privileged and has nothing to do with political campaigns.
“In these places, Obi had given messages of hope to lift the spirit of the downtrodden. He hastily and never talked about politics, abused anybody or indulged in name-calling.
“For instance during the Ramadan period, Obi visited some praying centres in the North and South breaking fast with Muslim faiths and dolling some items to help ameliorate their sufferings and even went further to provide basic amenities such as water in some communities.
Similarly, he also visited some churches during the Christian Holy Week and celebrated Easter with prisoners and in all he delivered a message of hope to the people.
What remains an undisputed fact, is that Peter Obi’s charity work predates politics and he would never be intimidated to change this personal disposition, which he believes is an assignment for him from his creator.
We, therefore, urge the public to ignore any insinuations of co-mingling politics and religion; and see them as a grand design to limit Mr. Obi’s freedom of movement and citizenship welfare action.
“Narrow-minded political agents are only embarrassed that Mr Obi’s transparent patriotism and compassionate commitment to the common good of all Nigerians have been self-evident.
Through these visits and acts of undivided fellowship with all Nigerians, Mr. Obi Has come across as Nigeria’s foremost patriot and change agent.
“His visits to the places where Nigerians feel the hurt, he is exposing the enormity of unmet needs and unfulfilled promises across the nation as well as the acute failure of our selfish national elite in addressing proactively the needs of the underprivileged in our society.
“Obi’s preoccupation now is with the poor not politics”
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