Ongoing Reconstruction of Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Road has Progressed Appreciably - Engr Adebiyi

The ongoing reconstruction work on the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road project has been progressing appreciably and would be completed in the life of this administration.

Engr Funso Adebiyi, the Director Highways Construction and Rehabilitation in the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing stated this during the ongoing visit to the project site to assess the progress of work on the project

"We are satisfied with the quality of work going on and we are working to increase the pace of the work. You can see that work is going on simultaneously on all sections of both lanes of  the dual carriage  375km longroad from Abuja-Kaduna- Kano" he said

Adebiyi explained that the work was initially for rehabilitation but now full reconstruction work is ongoing. He  appealed to Nigerians to be patient with the government in it's commitment to deliver a qualitative work that would stand the test of time

Similarly, he also appealed to the road users to bear the discomfort being experienced everyday as a result of blockages and diversions, pointing out that it was  a necessary action in a construction work of such magnitude above all on such busy road with high traffic volume and axle load.

On the level of work done so far, Engr Adebiyi said  " we have made a lot of progress. You can see that over  100km though not at a stretch, have been completed under section one to three (Abuja-Kano) , 40km completed under section two (Kaduna-Zaria), and 70km completed under section three (Zaria-Kano)"

He pointed out  that while some sections of the road are also at different levels of completion, palliative/remedial work are being carried out on the sections that are critically bad to facilitate ease of passage for motorists"

Reacting to the allegation of delayed  work, Engr Adebiyi said "It is important that I correct the wrong impression by the people  that work is not moving. We are working to meet up with the deadline and at the same time subjecting all the work to quality assurance test to deliver a good job"

He assured Nigerians of the commitment of the government to completing the work. " Government is desirous of completing this project , as such is not leaving anything to chance, that is why we are here regularly  tracking the progress of work with a view to sorting out any identified challenges"

Engr Adebiyi stated that the Honourable Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola, San and the Hon  Minister of State  Engr. Aliyu  D  Abubarkar had demonstrated a strong passion to this project and others across the country in order to ensure the  fulfillment of President Muhammadu Buhari’s  promise of bridging infrastructure gap in the country.

On the speed of work on the road, the Director Bridges and Design, Engr Adeoye  urged the contractor to increase the pace of work by deploying more men on sites to work simultaneously on both lanes

The team of engineers in the Ministry  led by the Director Highways Construction and Rehabilitation, Engr Adebiyi were on a routine assessment inspection of the various ongoing road projects across the country in order to ensure quality work delivery and meeting the completion deadline

The team carried out an engineering measurement and evaluation of some key components in road construction among others ; storm water drainages, shoulders, right of way, concrete slabs, U-turns, culverts reinforcement pipes.

TheAbuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano roa reconstruction project was awarded to Julius Berger Nigeria Plc on 20th December, 2017 and the project commenced on 21st May, 2018 with the 36 months completion period

Remarks By H.E, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN At The 28th Monthly Power Sector Operators Meeting Hosted By Kaduna Distribution Company

Once again, permit me to welcome you all to another monthly meeting of operators in the Power Sector.

This is the 28th monthly meeting and it is hosted by Kaduna DisCo,  to whom we are grateful for accepting to host us.

In the last few months, I have used the opportunity of this meeting to focus attention of Operators, GenCos, Transmission Company and DisCos, who are the points of public interface, on the need to pay more attention to service delivery, repairs, and maintenance of equipment.

My focus in this meeting will not be different. We are beginning a different weather season that will see more rainfall, thunderstorms, lightening and windstorms.

All of these will affect regular supply one way or another. Trees will fall and disrupt lines, poles and lines may be damaged, and service will be disrupted.

In all these situations, we must prepare our staff to anticipate, plan, and respond.

Most importantly, we must inform the public about the problems and what we are doing to restore service whenever there are disruptions.

As a consumer myself, nothing gives me more comfort than when my service provider shares information about service disruptions.

It tells me quickly that at least somebody knows that there is a problem, and gives me hope that something is being done about it.

Apart from service issues of supply, there is the bigger and compelling issue of estimated billing and lack of meters.

Meter supply has become the big issue of the moment that consumers want us to resolve.

As a Government, we hear them loudly and clearly, and as service providers, we hope that you can hear them too.

As power supply continues to increase in Generation, Transmission and Distribution, the demand for meters will increase because more power supply and consumption will likely result in increased  bills.

Estimated billings in these circumstance will become a major cause of distrust and conflict between consumers and DisCos, and meters are the easiest way to build the bridge of trust.

On the Executive side of Government, we are responding by taking advantage of the Meter Asset Provider (MAP) Regulations to deploy a fund of N37bn towards supplying meters through private sector.

I urge all DisCos who have not taken benefit of this opportunity to quickly do so, or make their own funding arrangements to contract  their own meter providers to supply and install  meters.

On the Legislative side of Government, there is a clear intention to intervene by Legislation.

The Executive and Legislative response show that Government is committed  to  addressing this issue of meters.

Let me be clear that every DisCo is affected, and every DisCo needs to respond by providing meters quickly and seeking to end estimated billing, which is subjective, discretionary, and prone to abuse.

In closing, let me also point out that our commitment to better service delivery by improving infrastructure, as mandated by President Buhari, continues.

Yesterday, I visited the historic city of Zaria to commission the 60MVA Transformer added to the Zaria 132 KV substation to increase the transformer capacity from 140 MVA to 200 MVA.

This will improve service to customers of Kaduna DisCo, our host, in places like Zaria City, Sabon Gari, Samaru, Giwa, Yakawada, Tudun Wada, Markafi, to mention a few.

This morning, I also visited the Power House 132 KV Transmission Substation in Kaduna to commission 2 X 60 MVA Transformers to increase the transformer capacity from 190 MVA to 240 MVA.

This will hopefully improve service of Kaduna DisCo to customers in places like Kaduna Township, Rigasa, Kakuri, Rigachukwu, Chikun, Sabon Tasha, to mention a few.

I must commend TCN for these interventions that are being undertaken nationwide.

Substation by substation, one by one, city by city, we are bringing incremental power close to the people, and this is change.

Thank you all for attending, and for your attention.

Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN
Honourable Minister of Power, Works, and Housing