The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, has disclosed that an additional N500m as variation for the completion of an 18.7km Bulu-Oriagbene road in the Bomadi Local Government Area of Delta State have been approved.
Akpabio made the disclosure while speaking to State House correspondents at the end of the two-hour 37th virtual Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on Wednesday.
According to the Minister, the construction is a project of the Niger Delta ministry, which had already attained 97 per cent completion, noting that the contractors had been given six months to complete the project.
He said, “The Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs presented two memos today to the Federal Executive Council and both were approved. One was just augmentation or variation of the contract (sum) for the construction of Bulu-Oriagbene road in Bomadi Local Government Area of Delta State.
“The road is about 18.7 kilometres and the initial contract price was about N8.5bn. With the variation in price today, the contract price is now about N9bn. The Federal Executive Council today approved that variation.”
The minister hinted that FEC also approved the floating of a digital platform where projects executed by his ministry could be monitored at all times.
In a related development, Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, on his part said FEC, passed a resolution granting the request of the University of Ibadan to acquire a new microscope at the cost of N190,552,000 to compliment the efforts of the Federal Government to reposition the education sector.
Nwajiuba said, “This is a microscope which is totally directed at enhancing whatever material, looking at nuclear composition of its molecular nature. This is in our premier university.”
“N190m will be made available by the Federal Government and University of Ibadan will be adding N552,000 as their own counterpart fund from Internally Generated Revenue. Within 16 weeks, we will have this equipment in the country.”
