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FEC in last-minute haste to clear backlog of work

By Terhemba Daka, Abuja
10 May 2019   |   3:12 am
As the May 29 inauguration date draws nearer, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) Wednesday night focused on clearing outstanding memos. A presidency source, who confirmed the development yesterday, noted: “There is nothing special. You know that there will be only two more FEC meetings before the inauguration date. So, we want to clear the backlogs.”…

ouncil Chamber of the State House, Abuja, President Buhari presided over the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting. Photo/twitter/AsoRock

As the May 29 inauguration date draws nearer, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) Wednesday night focused on clearing outstanding memos.

A presidency source, who confirmed the development yesterday, noted: “There is nothing special. You know that there will be only two more FEC meetings before the inauguration date. So, we want to clear the backlogs.”

Briefing State House Correspondents after the meeting late night, Minister of Water Resources, Sulaiman Adamu, said the Federal Government was disturbed by the menace of open defecation in the country and would launch the Clean Nigeria Campaign as part of efforts to end the menace by 2025.

Joined by his Petroleum Resources, Information and Culture and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) counterparts, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu; Lai Mohammed; Zainab Ahmed and Bello Mohammed, he noted that 47 Nigerians still defecate openly, while only 10 of the 774 local councils were free of the act.

In his remarks, Kachikwu said FEC approved a fire service truck at the cost of N420 million inclusive of five percent VAT for the Nigerian Content Monitoring Board’s (NCMB) 17-floor headquarters in Bayelsa State.

It also mandated the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to construct pipeline installations for movement of dry gas through the 30-kilometre north, south and west corridors at N2.5 billion in 18 months.

Bello, on his part, said the council also approved a contract for the construction of a secondary road in Kwali, Abuja at N1.8 billion for a period of 15 months.

Also sanctioned for the FCT were purchase of heavy duty equipment to pull down buildings that contravene the city’s master plan valued at N147 million as well as four water tankers for the FCT Fire Service at the sum of N725 million.

He added that a contract for the Phase 2 of the Pategi water project in Kwara State equally got approval at the cost of N3.2 billion.

The Finance Minister, Ahmed, said the gathering also okayed the procurement of communication gadgets for the Nigeria Customs Service at the cost of N247.9 million to be delivered in eight weeks.

It also approved the acquisition of residential accommodation for the staff of the service, an estate of 42 flats at N152 million per block of six units. The total sum being N970.2 million inclusive of VAT.

Besides, FEC gave a green light to a N710 million contract for the automation of ‘Light House.’ It is a data warehousing system that integrates different relevant tax data for the purpose of accurate and effective revenue assessment as well as for the determination of assets and income status for both corporate and individual taxpayers.

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