FG awards N1.058bn contract for repair of Abuja-Kaduna road

Federal Government on Monday announced that it had awarded a contract for emergency repair of the Abuja-Kaduna dual carriageway.

The contract worth N1.058 billion, the government said, is sequel to the planned usage of the Kaduna Airport for flights in and out of Abuja, while the runaway of the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja, undergoes rehabilitation works.

According to a statement signed by ‘Bisi Agbonhin, who is the director of information in the ministry of power, works and housing, works and housing sector, “the contract for the emergency repairs of the 164-kilometre road was awarded to Messrs CGC (Nig.) Limited at a cost of N1.058 billion, with a completion period of 50 days.”

Meanwhile, procurement processes for the award of contract for the rehabilitation of the Abuja-Kano dual carriageway, which had earlier been captured in the 2016 budget, the statement further noted, are ongoing.

It also explained that the processes would be completed and awarded as soon as a “Certificate of No Objection” is received from the Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP).

It could be recalled that on January 5, 2017, the federal government had announced that the airport would be closed from March 8 for six weeks to enable repairs on the only runway.

The government also announced it was currently making arrangements such that, during the repair works on the runway, airlines would land at the Kaduna airport and passengers would be transported in secure buses from Kaduna to Abuja.

The representative of governor, Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State, Gambo Hamza, had assured of the state government’s readiness to ensure smooth operations during the period.

He said that the Kaduna State government had already begun cleaning up of the airport in anticipation of diverted flights from Abuja, adding further that adequate security arrangements had been put in place for the exercise