The Federal Executive Council ( FEC) on Wednesday approved the sum of N400b for roads rehabilitation, including N260b augmentation for the East West road.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity ( Office of the Vice President) Laolu Akande while briefing journalists on behalf of Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, disclosed this after the hybrid Federal Executive Council ( FEC) meeting, presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
He disclosed that the Minister for works and housing had presented a memo for approval for the variation order in respect of repair works on the East West road project affected by the recent flooding occurrences in the Niger Delta.
The Minister got approval for a variation order for the East West road project, covering sections 1-4 from Warri to Port Harcourt, Eket, Oron, including Oron-Eket bypass in the sum of N260 billion, thereby increasing the total contract sum for the outstanding sections 1-4 of the East West road projects from the sum of formerly of N246 billion now to N506 billion.
The Minister for Works and Housing also got approval for the award of contracts for the urgent repairs, and special general maintenance of a few roads nationwide.
This includes the construction of Gogora Guru Road in Yobe state, in the sum of N40 billion, with the completion time of 36 months.
He was also given approval for the rehabilitation of the 90 kilometre Buni Gari Gulani road also in Yobe state in the sum of N4 billion with a completion period of 36 months, as well as approval for urgent repairs in some of these roads.
The contract covered the reconstruction of water cooperation, drive at Trinity Avenue Victoria Island Lagos state that too was also approved in the sum of N2 billion with a completion period of 36 months.
“Finally, the Minister for housing also got approval for the award of contract for the dualization and reconstruction of the Kano-Kwana-Ganja-Hadeija road in Kano and Jigawa states, section Kano to Salu. These were approved in the sum of N94 billion inclusive of 7.5 percent VAT with a completion period of 24 Months.
The Minister of Youths and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, said FEC also approved the National Sports Industry Policy (NSIP) 2022-2026. The policy has as its core, the building of a business model into the nation’s sports development.
The approval further enhances President Muhammadu Buhari’s earlier approval for the reclassification of sports as business.
“Today, that policy, 2022 to 2026, was presented to Council and the Federal Executive Council has approved National Sports Industrial Policy 2022 to 2026. This approval brings to the final closure the idea that, or the principle of sports as business, which opens the door to private investment, driven by incentives and also investment from the private sector” Dare said.
With the approval, the ministry will now look at sports’ code of governance regulations, as it relates to sporting federations, to create a sports governance structure as it exists in other sectors that will be attractive to the private sector and this code of governance will attract obligations like accountability, which are critical to investor confidence and also sector clarity.
Read also: Why Nigeria must look beyond road in transport infrastructure
The approval also covers incentives for private investors and sports development.
The minister revealed that the approval grants tax and fiscal incentives needed to drive sports as business and also to attract the much needed investment from the private sector.
The approval also covers the ability of the Sports Ministry to drive the application of a medley of funding and financing approaches to develop our infrastructure and to develop our sports from Renovate, Operate and Transfer, ROT to BOT, which Build, Operate and Transfer, to the Integrated National Financing Framework (INFF) and also the Nigeria Integrated Infrastructure Masterplan.
The minister said: “All of these have been approved as approaches we can employ to boost sports as business.
“Most importantly, the triggers of sports as business, which is infrastructural development, investment from public and private sector, and also incentives, that were presented to Council, were all approved and with this development, we believe that a new dawn has come for sports development in our country.
“In this policy is something for the athletes, in this policy is something for the government, in this policy there’s something for the mass of sports loving Nigerians and in this policy, there’s definitely something for our youth population, because it has a fully developed sports value-chain into which most of our youths can plug in and also investors can plug in. Thank you very much. Before we exit yes to proceed.”
