Stealing Public Trust ...Premium Times’ Low Premium Reporting. The stupidity of the THOUGHT that a public officer will take such money on a consistent and repeated basis with impunity reveals the mindset of Premium Times about what they can do in such circumstances. The pen writes what the mind thinks. That stupidity is magnified by the thought that the public officer who is trying to steal would be paying the money into his bank account where it can be found. The stupidity initially informed my decision not to respond to Premium Times in their latest publication headlined under my Name. It is a continuing line of a series of Attack FASHOLA. Regrettably, what Premium Times has done is to damage its reputation as a news medium for those who seek the truth. Clearly, no investigation was undertaken in respect of this publication as the report was from “Open Portal.” If it was from the Open Portal then there was nothing to hide. If Premium Times had conducted any investigation it will find and report that payments like this occurred in many other ministries and have been a source of concern reported in other media by Compliance Authorities. If Premium Times investigated, it would have found and reported that Ministers do not manage accounts and finances of Ministries. A little investigation would have shown Premium Times that Directors of Finance and Accounts (DFAs) are those who do this job and they are staff of the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation and seconded to the Ministries as part of financial controls. IPPIS If Premium Times investigated it would have found and reported that government in 2007 initiated a payment platform called Integrated Payment Platform and Information System (IPPIS). Any well meaning and right thinking member of the public will recall that this administration has been engaging all sectors of Government to fully migrate to the IPPIS platform. What has happened is that not all Government Officials who, from time to time, needed to be paid for approved expenses were registered on the platform. In order to ensure that government work was not hampered, the DFAs sought and obtained approval of the Accountant General to pay these monies through the Accounts of an Approved few who were on the platform. Those so approved then collect the money and disburse to the beneficiaries who sign Receipts all of which are retired and available for verification as approved by the Accountant General. The Accountant General has recently issued new guidelines to deal with this process because not all public officials have fully enrolled on IPPIS and the DFAs have the mandate to comply and not FASHOLA. In all, no money was stolen or is missing. There is No Smoking Gun to criminalize Fashola. If anything has been stolen it is the Trust of the public by Premium Times. I will not believe anything they write again. This is not investigative Journalism. It is Irresponsible Journalism. BABATUNDE RAJI FASHOLA, SAN HON. MINISTER OF WORKS AND HOUSING ...

Lagos-Ibadan Expressway: Federal Government Committed to Completing the Project- Fashola …. Says Government will complete the road project even if oil price drops to zero The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, SAN has restated the Federal Government’s commitment to completing the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway project despite the scarce resources as a result of sharp drop in oil price. The Lagos-Ibadan Highway is a trunk A road located in the South-West region of the country and was contracted in two sections (I and II) to Messrs Julius Berger Nigeria Plc and Messrs Reymond Construction (RCC) Limited respectively. At the interactive town hall meeting with stakeholders at Ogere in Ogun State over the weekend, Mr Fashola stated that Section I of the project was the rehabilitation, reconstruction and expansion of Lagos-Ibadan dual carriageway of about 43.6km commencing from old-toll gate at Oregun/Ikosi-Ketu Lagos and terminates at Shagamu Interchange in Ogun State. He stated also that the Section ll which is about 84km starts from Sagamu Interchange to Ibadan and is being handled by RCC. According to Fashola, the rehabilitation, construction and expansion of Lagos- Ibadan dual carriageway, construction of 2nd Niger bridge and the rehabilitation, construction and expansion of Abuja-Kaduna-Kano dual carriageway are strategic infrastructure development projects of Mr. President. “These Highway projects are financed with the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) funded from the Sovereign Wealth Fund and they are National Priority Highway projects,” he said. He said that the Ogere town hall meeting was the third, in a series, his Ministry has organized in order to address the critical conditions militating against the timely completion of the projects explaining that this goes to show that the Buhari administration is committed in bridging the road infrastructure gap of the nation in demonstrating an unfettered funding attention to road projects. Responding to questions from stakeholders at the town hall meeting on the delay in completing the project and other issues bothering on safety of the road users which have become a major problem, he appealed to the contractors to accelerate work to ease traffic flow especially during the forthcoming Christmas Season. He also called on the contractors to build signages and hazard warning signs. “You contractors should remember that you do this work for the people and that you must be passionate in doing it by easing the trauma people go through while on the road, “he added. While calling for the cooperation and patience of the road users, Fashola gave a matching order to truck drivers to move away from the road at the Ogere parking point. He explained that their activities along the Highway was constituting a menace to the road itself. “Truck parking operation is a business, you must plan your parking space, you cannot run your business at the discomfort of other people. Park away immediately today because parking on the Highway is a violation of Highway code.’ Delivery his welcome address, the Director, Highways Construction and Rehabilitation of the Ministry, Engr. Olufunsho Adebiyi noted that the Town Hall Meeting essentially was to enable the benefitting communities see themselves as co-owners and to partner with the Federal Government in achieving this laudable project aimed at cushioning the effects of gridlock on the corridor of the Highway. He added that the initial contract was only for the rehabilitation, reconstruction and expansion of Section l (Lagos to Shagamu interchange) and Section ll (Shagamu Interchange – Ibadan and also the rehabilitation of existing bridges on the road. He stated that considering the heavy traffic on the highway, both contract was changed to include the construction of new flyover bridges, Interchanges and Pedestrian bridges which made the contract sum to be at the tune of N134,861, 785,702.80 and N176, 503,901,413.68 for both Sections 1 & 2 respectively. While explaining the progress of work on the expressway, the Managing-Director of Reynolds Construction Company Nigeria (RCC) Limited Mr. Nabeel Esawi stated that work was moving on well, he added that the total asphalt length in both direction of the road is 95km.  He promised that the work would be delivered on schedule. He lamented the vehicular congestion on the road due to indiscriminate parking by articulated vehicles, vehicular and road traffic accidents, congestion due to inflow of traffic during peak periods etc. Presenting his progress report, the Managing Director of Julius Berger Plc, Dr Lars Richter said the project had been a much-anticipated national infrastructure with immense socio-economic benefits for the adjoining states and the entire nation. He said,” The Section l (One) has the highest traffic volume in Nigeria.  On this stretch of highway not only is there a high way volume of traffic with large commercial activities, but also a large number of commuters who travel in and out of Lagos daily” He explained that despite the challenges, immense level of progress of work has been achieved and the target completion date of third quarter of 2022 would be achieved. In attendance at the town hall meeting were the Minister of Works and Housing, Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, Director NSIA, Mr Uche Orji, Representative of Lagos State Governor & Special Adviser Lagos State Governor on Works Mrs. Aramide Adeyoye, and other stakeholders which include, Traditional Rulers, representatives of Igbo and Hausa communities and representatives of Civil Society Organisations. ...

2nd Niger Bridge: 2022 Delivery is Sacrosanct – Fashola The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN has given assurance that the 2nd Niger bridge will be completed and delivered in year 2022 as promised despite delay caused by the impact of covid 19 and disagreement with some people from the communities around the project before they were resolved with the intervention of the Governors of Anambra and Delta States as well as some traditional rulers from the area. Fashola gave this assurance while speaking at a town hall meeting with stakeholders of the project held at the bridge site in Asaba. He said, “Clearly 2022 will be the delivery date for this project as already planned, we might miss a few weeks here and there but nothing substantial.” Let me assure you of Mr. President’s commitment and the Federal Government’s commitment to this.” The Minister,however, stressed the need for peaceful coexistence, sacrifice and patience to ensure the completion of the project. “We need peace to finish this work, we need peaceful coexixtence to finish this work, we need also some sacrifice, we have to give some things in order to get some things and we need some patience”, he said. Fashola disclosed that the total cost of the project is four hundred and fourteen Billion naira. He explained that while the cost of bridge is two hundred and six billion, the 2A and 2B roads will cost two hundred and eight billion naira. He added that the Buhari administration is making the commitment even though the price of oil is now about forty dollar per barrel. While speaking on the economic benefits of the project to the people of the area the Minister said in order to build this bridge the contractors will be buying 644 thousand tonnes of aggregates. They require four Million cubic metres of sand, sixty eight thousand tonnes of cement, 19 Million litres of diesel all of which will be bought from people around the area who deal in such businesses. He further said that the contractor employed over one thousand four hundred workers who are indigenes of the area. On the issue of compensation, the Minster appealed to the Governors of Anambra and Delta states to help engage with the communities to make it easier for the Federal Governmnt to come to agreement with them. Fashola promised that the Ministry will look into the ecological and environmental consequence of the project. Speaking at the occasion, the Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa who was represented by the Secretary to the state government expressed profound appreciation to the Federal Government for the project while urging the Minister to expedite action on some federal roads in the state. Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State who deliverd the vote of thanks expressed gratitude to President Buhari for keeping his words on the project and commended the Minster for his commitment to the work. He assured that he will ensure that there is peace in his state. Earlier in his address, the Managing Director of Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, Dr. Las Weiser described the project as a key national infrastructure with immense economic benefits. He said when completed it will minimize traffic congestion and strengthen the region by boosting trade and commerce nationally and internationally. The Meeting which was well attended was graced by many traditional rulers some of which are: the Obi of Onitsha, , Eze of Okpo Kingdom and Eze of Obosi. The Minister also inspected the progress of work at the bridge and visited the Zik Mausoleum where he promised that effort will be made to preserve the mausoleum and keep it in the pristine condition that it deserves. ...