FG Threatens To Terminate Abaji-Koton-Karfe Dualisation Road Project The Ministry of Power, Works and Housing  on Wednesday threatened to terminate the contract for the dualisation of the Abaji-Koton-Karfe road due to “negligence” by the contractor for five months. The Director of Highways Constructions and Rehabilitation of the ministry, Mr Dayyabu Mamman made the recommendation on Wednesday during an inspection by the Minister of State II for Power, Works and Housing, Suleiman Zarma. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the minister in the company of some ministry’s officials was on an inspection of the Federal highways projects in Kogi state, including housing projects. The project which is being handled by Bulletine Construction Company Ltd at the cost of N15. 1 billion is part of the dualisation of the Abuja-Lokoja Road; section III (Abaji-Koton-Karfe) C/No.5884. The 49.40 km road construction which began on Oct. 12, 2006 with initial completion date of April 11, 2009 but extended completion date of March 12, 2014 has 159.72 as per cent time lapse. “The site has been inactive since December 2017, labourers have not been deployed on site, I recommend for the termination of the project. “The project is giving us sleepiness nights, all effort to make them work to hasten the completion of the dualisation proved abortive for the past five months,’’ the Director noted while briefing the minister. Mamman, also the North-Central Zone Director noted that the contractor who has spent 12 years on the project with only 54.48 per cent completion and has applied for extension of contract period. “The contractor has an advance payment of N1.6 billion only to pay back. None rendering approved services which the contractor has received payment for also amounted to the sum of N414.2 million,’’ he said. He identified another challenge facing the project as the “Rutting on the carriage way’’ report which the department of Materials and Geotechnic has conducted pavement evaluation test to certify the reason for the failure but has not been submitted. The Engineer also ascribed delay in the project to high rate of accidents on the road due to untidiness of the site. Mamman recalled that the contractor has been issued warning letters for poor performance and series of meetings have equally been held with the contractor to encourage increase performance but it yielded no result. Meanwhile, thethe company’s site agent, Mr Peter Omenye confirmed that the contract was abandoned because of labour related issues concerning workers salaries and entitlement. According to him, the workers have refused to work until they are paid all their entitlements. Reacting to this, the minister noted that there was every reason to terminate the contract because the contractor has not been on site for five months because of domestic issues. “It is not because we have any issue with them, we do not have any issue with them rather they have issues with their employees; I understand that they have not been paid salaries or allowances. “We do not owe, so we want construction to continue, we have no reason to be held hostage by any contractor in an event where we are not in default. However, Zarma who is also a Surveyor noted that in terms of contractor’s conditions, the ministry would go into the documents to look at the contractor’s conditions before making categorical statement. Zarma also inspected the dualisation of Abuja-Lokoja road, section IV (Koton-Karfe-Lokoja) Obajana junction, C/No. 5885 being handled by Gitto Construction Company with 61 per cent completion. The minister had earlier inspected the dualisation project of Abuja-Abaji-Lokoja road (section 1), contract No. 5862 including spur to Airport junction. He lauded the road work progress, emphasising that there was fulfilment of President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment to fix infrastructure deficit in the country. He said road project were always costly due to outsourcing of raw materials such as granite and cement including conducting soil test before actual project execution commenced. NAN reports that the percentage completion of the project being handle by Dantata and Sawoe construction Ltd. as at April 2018 is 90 per cent while the financial expenditure as at January 2017 is 88 per cent. The major works completed include the construction of new road (11.4km) along Airport road Spur, rehabilitation of existing road (10.04KM), and construction of interchange at Giri and Gwagwalada among others. Source: (NAN) ...

Fashola Inaugurates NERC Chairman, Charges Commission On Customer Service * Says having fully constituted NERC with the inauguration of the Chairman, the focus would now be on Metering * Expresses delight that between 2015 and now, many consumers have  experienced better, longer power supply * Azura Power Plant now ready to go into full operation says the Minister * New Chairman promises collaboration with Commissioners, Ministry and legislature to take Power Sector to the next level The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola SAN, Thursday inaugurated the Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) charging the Commission to focus more on Customer Service as the critical component that would move the Power Sector forward. Speaking after the brief but colourful ceremony at the Conference Room of the Ministry, Fashola, who said Customer Service was a challenging bridge that must be crossed, said it was the duty of the Commission to make Consumers understand what was going on with their metering, what are their rights and so on and so forth as well as who to hold accountable when things went wrong with service delivery. The Minister told the new NERC Chairman, Professor James Momoh, “Consumers must understand what is going on with their metering, what are their rights and so on and so forth; who do they hold accountable, where are the NERC field offices to which they can complain; what is the process of getting remediation for service that is not in sufficient quantity and of quality?” Promising to make himself available to render assistance in terms of “policy guidelines, policy directions and helping to move the wheel of bureaucracy to make progress to get the work done”, he added that the Commission also had to do a lot of enlightenment among the customers in terms of making them understand who and where to complain when they needed service. “I want to thank the Permanent Secretary and all the members of the team. I continue to receive those text messages; I like to thank the Director of Distribution and her team; they are the ones I send those texts of complaints, ‘Our meter has failed, etc’ and they respond as best they can all over the country and I get feedbacks from those who have received service”, he said. Fashola, who described the Commission as the Policeman of the Power Sector, expressed delight that it now has the full complement of its membership with a Chairman, added, “I am one of the happiest people today and I will tell Nigerians why. Since Privatization took place, one of the things that have happened is that the size of the Ministry of Power shrank significantly”. “I think our staff strength before I came was in the region of 15,000 and all of that is now less than a thousand people because most of the staff some retired as a consequence of the Privatization and transfer of ownership to the GenCos and the DisCos. Today, unlike the old Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), this Ministry does not own any Gencos or DisCos”, he further explained adding that the Ministry only supervises the Yola Disco where, according to him,  privatization became problematic and force majeure was declared. According to the Minister, “The truth is that we don’t buy meters and we don’t supply meters. Really and truly our role now is just to make policies; our quality of energy, type of energy; whether it is hydro, thermal, and solar or wind and to make sure that if there are problems we go and solve them. And that is in terms of government activities”. Reiterating that owners of the power assets today are the GenCos and DisCos, Fashola pointed out that the power industry was now a business where the aforementioned investors are now responsible for providing electricity to Nigerians, adding, “The owners of the DisCos are the ones who now have the challenge and responsibility of distributing electricity to Nigerians”. The Minister added that the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), owned by the government, was now run as a business to transmit electricity pointing out that all of the organizations, both private and public, were subject to the regulatory power of NERC whose Chairman was being inaugurated. “So that is the Policeman of the Power Industry”, he said. Describing Metering as a “big issue” in the industry, Fashola, who noted that the Commission has already issued regulations concerning the problem promised that government was working hard on how quickly meters could come, adding that for those people not connected to the grid, NERC has also issued regulations for mini-grids and how it would happen. The Minister thanked the Commissioners of NERC for their collaborative working relationship without a substantive Chairman adding, “I value the work that you do; but sadly I just have to ask you to do more. Nigerians need to experience the full benefit that Privatization can bring. I am convinced that it will happen. Irrespective of what we see, what matters most now is what people are experiencing”. He expressed delight that between 2015 and now, many consumers have  experienced better supply by way of having power for longer hours compared with before, buying less diesel and running their generators for shorter periods adding, however, that in some places people would still say that their experience was not good. “So that means there is still a lot of work to do”, he said. On the progress being made in the sector, Fashola declared, “By increasing generation to 7,000MW, increasing transmission to over 7,000MW and increasing distribution from 2,690MW to an average of 4,900MW and 5,000MW, clearly that is progress and that is what we must do more”. The Minister, who acknowledged that there were challenges that came with the Privatization of the industry such as metering and governance issues, said that was why government came up with the Power Sector Recovery Programme (PSRP) as a component of its Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) to solve the challenges and put the sector on the path of sustainable growth. “What we see is that like every policy, Privatization will have its challenges. We have gathered all the challenges together and that is what we have put in the PSRP; from meters to governance and one of the governance issues is the full constitution of the NERC with the appointment of the Chairman and today one item in the list of to-do items of the PSRP is now completed and we can proudly report that”, he said. The Minister said, having solved that governance problem, other items to be faced include metering and expansion of distribution network adding that although there is an existing  capacity of 2,000MW of power that could not be distributed, government was working to see what it could do quickly to solve the problem before the end of the year. He disclosed that the Azura Power in Edo State just sent a message that their plant was now completed and was ready to run full operation, adding, “That is 459 MW of power. We are expecting another 240 MW from Afam and another 215 MW from Kaduna and also from Kashimbila. There is a lot of power coming. So, the distribution end is where our real challenge lies”. The Minister, who noted that the mini-grid regulations issued recently by NERC have started producing results with impacts in markets, pointed out that later this year, places like Sura Market in Lagos, Sabon Gari Market in Kano, Ariaria Market in Aba and about 13 other markets across the country were going to be energized. “So the progress we are making inspires us to continue. It reinforces the methods that we have formulated and the choices that we have made, that clearly we are on the right part. This is clearly an elephant and so we are going to break it bit by bit because you can’t eat an elephant whole”, he said. Thanking President Muhammadu Buhari for the choice of Professor Momoh as Chairman of NERC, Fashola also thanked the Chairman for deciding “to find his way home to come and be part of fixing what may be wrong instead of pointing fingers at what is wrong”. “I think that it is always easy to complain about what is wrong; but it is much more challenging to volunteer to be part of the problem solving team and that is what Professor Momoh has done in accepting this nomination to serve his country”, the Minister said adding that the new Chairman while needing the help of God in fulfilling his oath of office would also need his own resolve, the help of his wife, friends and family for the same purpose.  Also singled out for special thanks were the Vice-Chairman of the Commission, Mr. Sanusi Garba, who also acted as Chairman in the absence of the substantive Chairman, Mr. Frank Okafor, Mr. Musiliu Oseni and other commissioners of the Commission who held the fort till the inauguration as well as the Senate who, according to him, although they delayed the confirmation, “It is better late than never”. In his acceptance remarks, the new Chairman, Professor James Momoh, pledged to abide by the oath of office which he had earlier taken, adding that he was proud to return and serve his country in the capacity he had been chosen after serving in the United States for so many years. “I understand that I have been given a trust. My job is a trust. I want to assure you that I am a team player. I will work with the Commissioners of NERC; I will work with the Ministry and I will work with the legislative arm of government so that together we will forge a relationship where we understand we have been given a trust to move the power sector to the next level”, he said. Also present at the occasion were the Vice Chairman of NERC and other Commissioners of the Commission while on the Ministry’s side were the Permanent Secretary Power, Mr. Louis Edozien, Directors and Special Advisers to the Minister. ...

Indigenous Construction Contractors Commend FG For Transparent, Stress-Free Payment At Works Ministry * This is one of the things that Change means to us - FASHOLA * Says Indigenous Companies comprise all companies registered under the Nigerian law to do business in the country * Advocate improvement in the capacity of the local contractors in terms of equipment  and specialization in order compete * AICCON President says there is no member that did not receive at least two payments last year without lobbying anybody The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola SAN, was on Monday presented an award of recognition by the Association of Indigenous Construction Contractors of Nigeria (AICCON) for the regular payment of Federal Government construction contractors in the last one and a half years even as the Minister described the development as one of the pointers to the Change philosophy of the administration. President of AICCON, Otunba Lekan Osifeso, who led the Association on a courtesy visit and presentation to the Minister, said the award was in recognition and appreciation of the fact that for the first time in many years, the Contractors were getting paid after submission of their invoices without having to lobby anybody or come to the Ministry to canvass for it. In his brief remarks before the presentation, Otunba Osifeso said, “There is none of our members working with the Federal Ministry of Works, for the first time in a very long time, who did not receive at least two payments last year and none of us came to the Ministry to talk to anybody or lobby anybody. So in that respect, Sir, we think you deserve an award and recognition”. Receiving the award, the Minister, who thanked the Association for the gesture, expressed delight that some people appreciate the “modest” contributions the Ministry was making in rebuilding the country adding that while the gesture showed that there were right-thinking and well-meaning Nigerians who value service, it also challenged the Team to do more. The Minister, who handed the recognition plaque to the Permanent Secretary Works and Housing, Mr. Mohammed Bukar, noted that every member of the team has a role to play in the work being done.  “Our sense here is to build a team and show that Change means something. So this is one of the things that Change means to us; that Contractors don’t need to lobby our government to get paid for the work that they have done and we will continue to do more of that”, he declared. Earlier, while responding to the opening remarks of the AICCON President, Fashola commended the Association for the contributions they have made and are still making in the overall effort to rebuild the country, which, according to him, is at the core of President Buhari’s commitment and undertaking as made clear by the President in his New Year Address. Fashola recalled that Mr. President had in his New Year Address made it clear that as part of its diversification strategy for the economy, his Government would be focusing, not only on Agriculture and Mining but also on Infrastructure adding that as already acknowledged by the AICCON President, the Executive Order Five issued by the President placed high priority on local content and local capacity, which, according to him, is where the Indigenous Construction Contractors come in. He, however, observed that given the general conception and use of the word ‘Indigenous’, there was need to throw more light on the conception adding, “It is important to define who really is an indigenous company; because to the best of my knowledge, I doubt whether there is any company that is not registered under our laws that does business here. He declared, “Unless we intend to change our laws, once you are registered as a Nigerian company with certain amount of shareholding, I think about 51 per cent, you are a Nigerian company. So with that background, who chooses the Managing Directors of the companies?” Pointing out that if a Nigerian owns a company and takes a foreigner as Managing Director, it was not the responsibility of the government to choose that for him, the Minister told the Association, “So I think you should look into the mirror and ask yourselves some of these questions”, adding that some of the Nigerian owned companies register and employ foreigners as their Managing Directors while they sit as Chairmen with the role of leveraging business to the companies while the Managing Directors and Technical Partners do the execution. “If a company registers and wins a bid to do construction work in the country, it was not in the rights of the government to now say it could not execute such project for any other reason other than it was not registered as a Nigerian company”, he said adding that even if there was such a provision, there was also the consideration for specialization. Using the Medical and Legal Professions as examples, Fashola posited that there are certain projects that require specialized execution and would, therefore, need the handling of a company specialized in that area adding, “You cannot rule out specialization in any industry, even in football”. “So let us understand that within the realm of open and competitive bidding, that certain specifications will require us to ask for certain specialization”, the Minister said adding that even among the members of the AICCON, there were differentiations in terms of experience and equipment. He added, “What I want to see and what Mr. President wants to see is a continuous improvement in capacity. We want to see more buildings, we want to see more roads, we want to see more infrastructure built by Nigerians and that means then that you must have the right equipment”. Fashola suggested to the contractors that they should look seriously into the idea of equipment leasing that would help in providing easy access to equipment adding that it would enable the indigenous contractors to then compete adding that sometimes the difference between one company and another was the difference in equipment and sometimes equipment and previous experience. The Minister, however, assured the Association of Government’s support in areas where they have capacity adding that government would appreciate it more if they get the right equipment . He noted that another area where massive scope exists for partnership was in the Maintenance sector where, according to him, the Ministry was already working on setting up a maintenance framework. “Whatever we build is built to a design life subject to certain types of maintenance and that is an area that we haven’t really done enough”, he said. Fashola, who disclosed that the Ministry was working to develop a pilot maintenance framework starting with government buildings and from there build out, adding, “Hopefully may be in 2019 Budget, if we are lucky, we will be able to put a sizeable global Maintenance Budget for the first time and see how to engage labour and contracting companies to help grow the economy”. Advocating improvement within the framework of the indigenous companies, the Minister declared, “You have to compete and you have to improve your capacity”, adding that in defining who was really an indigenous company, there was need for the AICCON to research the existing construction companies who, he noted, have Nigerians on their boards. Earlier in his opening remarks, President of the Association, Otunba Lekan Osifeso, said the Association was on the courtesy visit to the Minister to both commend him for the paradigm shift within the construction industry under his watch in terms of regular payment of contractors, a situation which, according to him, was an experience coming after so many years. Otunba Osifeso, who put the size of the Construction Industry in Nigeria at one Trillion Naira annually with the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing contributing in excess of N200 Billion  annually, noted that unfortunately most of the sum was lost through capital flight as a result of non-patronage of local contractors over the years. He posited that if the indigenous contractors were adequately patronized and made to participate increasingly in the industry, capital flight cases would drop by as much as 60 per cent and would boost the economy and increase employment opportunities within the country adding that it would impact the Gross Domestic Product of the country and boost government investment. He declared, “Our mission is in line with Mr. President’s Executive Order Five that clearly supports the participation of the indigenous construction contractors by the government by way of commitment to patronage”, adding that on the long run, the Association’s aim was to build a formidable indigenous construction industry that is capable of attracting funding from financial institutions locally and internationally. Accompanying the AICCON President on the visit included the General Secretary of the Association, Otunba Muyiwa Ibeun, Head of Public Relations of the Association, Mr. Ibrahim Sukobir, Mr. Chinedu Igwonye (Member), Chief Mrs. Essien (Member) and Mr. Yomi Obitola, among others while with the Minister to host the visitors were the Permanent Secretary Works and Housing, Mr. Mohammed Bukar, Director Highways Construction and Rehabilitation, Engr. Oluyemi Oguntominiyi and Director Highways Planning and Development, Engr. Chuks Uzo represented by Engr. Funso Adebiyi. Others are Director Highways, Designs, Engr. Adetokunbo Sogbesan, Special Adviser Works, Dr. Femi Hamzat and Special Adviser Housing, Mr.  Biodun Oki, among others. ...