FEC Approves N348.5 Billion For Road Expansion The Federal Executive Council on Wednesday approved N348.5 billion for the expansion of the Akwanga-Jos-Bauchi-Gombe road into dual carriage way, linking Nasarawa, Plateau, Bauchi and Gombe States. The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, made this known when he briefed State House Correspondents on the outcome of the Council’s meeting. The meeting was presided over by acting President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Fashola said some portions of the affected road will be improved from a single carriage way to dual carriage, in order to ease the transportation. “The Ministry of Power, works and Housing presented the request for the award of the Akwanga-Jos-Bauchi-Gombe road, which was approved for the sum of N348, 595, 000, 000, for a total of 420.6 kilometres and the project scope is the expansion of the current two single lane highway into a dual carriage way. “What is significant about this project is that it completes the integration of the North-Central zone with the South-East and the North-East, having earlier approved contracts for the Abuja-Keffi road and the Akwanga-Lafia-Makurdi road all in the North-Central as well as approved the 9th Mile-Enugu-Makurdi road which connects the South-east to the North-Central,” he said. According to the Minister, the Federal Government has also approved the release of one billion naira as commitment fee for the immediate commencement of the expansion of Abuja – Keffi road. Fashola revealed that already three construction camps for the road project had been established to fast-track the movement of the contractors to site. He, however, expressed his ministry’s inability to pay seven billion naira as compensation to those to be affected by the Abuja – Keffi expansion road project. Mr Femi Adesina, who also addressed the correspondents on the outcome of the meeting, disclosed that the Council approved over N12 billion for the execution of ecological projects across the country, He said the benefitting states included Anambra, Lagos, Oyo, Akwa Ibom, Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Jigawa, Kaduna, Plateau, as well as the Federal Capital Territory and the State House. He said: “The sum of 12, 104, 882, 000 was approved for twelve ecological projects in different geo-political zones of the country. “The projects include Umunze erosion/flood control project in Anambra State, dredging and channelization of Musafejo canal in Surulere-Lagos and Ibadan flood and erosion control works in Oyo State. “Others are Ibiaku-Utui-Uroan route erosion control works in Akwa Ibom; erosion control and rehabilitation of Hong-Kanaha road in Adamawa State and gully erosion control project in Bauchi State. “The ecological projects include the Ramat Polytechnic erosion control and flood project in Borno State, erosion, flood control and road improvement works in Dutse, Jigawa State and erosion and flood control work in Kaduna Polytechnic, Kaduna State.’’ Adesina also listed other projects to include the flood and erosion control project at Kanam, Plateau State; erosion control and bridges and road improvement works in Kwali Area Council Abuja and erosion control at State House-Abuja. Source (NAN) ...

Third Mainland Bridge Closure For Maintenance Tests Now Shifted To August 24 * As FG Directs Immediate Deployment Of Trucks To 300-Capacity Trailer Park As Part Of Efforts To Decongest Oshodi-Apapa Expressway The three day closure of the Third Mainland Bridge for Investigative Maintenance Test earlier slated to begin on July 27, 2018, has been shifted to August 24 the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola SAN, has announced. The Shutdown, earlier scheduled to last from July 27 to July 30 will now last from August 24 to August 26, 2018. In a Press Statement, Fashola said the shift in the date was arrived at after due consultations with the Lagos State Government and wide deliberations with other relevant stakeholders adding that the date shift was done “in order to give succour and relief to the people of Lagos State and other inter-state road users and support the efforts of the State Government." On the efforts to decongest the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway, Fashola said, in the short term, he has directed the immediate deployment of trucks to the trailer park being constructed by the Ministry with the capacity to accommodate about 300 trucks while construction works for the shoreline protection continues. Also, the on-going palliative work on the sections of the Apapa-Oshodi Road , the on-going construction of the road leading to the Apapa Port from Ijora will soon be completed  while the main exit route through Tincan – Oshodi – Oworonshoki is under procurement for award. When completed, the project will enable free flow of traffic in the axis. Also following the visit of the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, to Lagos in connection with the Apapa Port Gridlock, the Federal Government has said, as a short term measure, a call up system in the control of truck movement would be introduced adding that it would be initially manual while the long term digital and ICT based system would be developed and deployed. The Association of Truck Owners has agreed to manage the manual system with their members who are truck operators, government also said. ...

My Directives On Improved Service Delivery In The Power    Sector Went To Legal Entities, Not To An Interloper - Fashola Before fiction becomes fact for lack of a response, I feel obliged to respond to SOME, NOT ALL of the allegations credited to one Mr. Sunday Oduntan who presents himself as Executive Director, Research and Advocacy of the Association of Electricity Distributors (ANED), which he made in response to my directives to NERC (the regulator) and BPE/NBET as contracting parties to the DisCos. Throughout my Press Statement which contained the directives, I referred copiously to the provisions of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act (EPSRA) which is the law that regulates the power sector. I referred to DisCos in their capacities as licensees. Mr. Oduntan should tell members of the public if ANED is a licensee. He should tell the public whether he is an investor in a DisCo and in which DisCo he has invested and what he invested. He should tell members of the public that I walked him out of our monthly meeting because he has no capacity to attend and he was not invited. If ANED is not a licensee, who is ANED ? An NGO? If so, they should listen to consumers because Nothing is Going On about poor service. The BPE, NBET and NERC, to whom my directives were made, contracted individually with DisCos not as an association. Any right thinking and well-meaning person knows that power supply has economic consequences and has  political relevance. However to suggest therefore that my directives were political, turns reality on its head; because for the past 20 months, in all my public briefings at monthly meetings with the DisCos, these same issues of service delivery of meters, estimated billings, investment in distribution equipment by DisCos have dominated my remarks. However, assuming this was not so, do the onset of elections preclude the quest for better service or continued Governance? If Mr. Oduntan represents the DisCos who, for reasons best known to them, choose not to act to save their investments, that is a matter of choice for them. I do not recognize him because the law that guides my functions does not recognize him. His statement that no directives from me will save the power sector from collapse, is consistent with the views of someone who has no skin in the game. It is perhaps a Freudian revelation of the mindset of those he represents, whoever they may be. It is a sickening parallel of the Biblical story of the woman who tried to steal a baby before the great King Solomon, and asked them to divide the child. It is revealing of the mindset of a saboteur not a builder, and he would do very well to acquaint himself and advise his co-travellers about the consequences of sabotaging the economy under our Laws. While the DisCos reserve the right to choose to affiliate with that view or disown it, I am optimistic that the power sector will prosper in spite of Oduntan-minded personalities. As for the allegation that figures of power generation and distribution released by me are not true, the taste of the pudding lies with those who eat it. Electricity consumers know what their experience was in 2015, 2016, 2017 and today. These figures have been released many months back when we reached those milestones as part of my monthly report and roadmap of incremental power. It is clearly Oduntan-like, to keep quiet at the time, when there were no directives, and to suddenly wake up many months later to dispute what he did not contest. It is obvious that the warning lights of compliance necessity are blinking, and those he represents do not like the colour. Another Oduntan-minded interpretation of my directive is that it is an attempt to demonize the DisCos. Far from it. If the DisCos connect with their consumers, they will hear from them first-hand, how traumatized they feel about load shedding, absence of meters and estimated billing. The GenCos, who are short paid because the DisCos under-remit in spite of high estimated billing to consumers, will tell DisCos how they feel. My directives seek to rectify these problems because I believe they can be rectified. If Oduntan truly speaks for the DisCos, which I doubt, he should ignore the messenger (Fashola) and advise those for whom he acts as surrogate, to focus on the message. The message is simple: Electricity consumers (which include Fashola), want better service; NBET wants its money; about N800 billion, so she can pay GenCos; If DisCos can prove that FGN owes more than what we admit, they should deduct (N72 billion) from N800 billion and pay the remaining N728 billion which they owe NBET; DisCos should respond to the query from the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing as to why 408 feeders, which have a capacity to deliver 5,756MW of power to consumers only carry 444MW because of faulty lines, bad equipment and load shedding? Oduntan should interprete this and tell the public whether it is the Ministry who should fix these lines and whether the unused energy will not reach the consumers if the feeders are put to use. These are part of the subject of my directives to NERC to address deliberate load shedding. Oduntan should advise his clients to spend the money used in publishing media responses to fix these problems to restore bad lines, and provide transformers and meters to their consumers. That is what electricity consumers want, Better Service. Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN Honourable Minister of Power, Works and Housing Friday 20th July 2018   ...