Stop the Destruction of our Common wealth, Fashola pleads at Town Hall Meeting The Honourable Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola SAN has appealed to those vandalizing government properties in the country to desist from doing so. The Minister made the appeal during his presentation at the Townhall Meeting on Protecting Public Infrastructure organized by the Federal Ministry of Information, which took place today 7th June 2021 at NAF Conference Centre Abuja. Fashola, who noted all that no nation grows beyond the capacity of its infrastructure, lamented the level of damage and vandalization of public properties in the nation. The Minister said, "our ability to grow, to develop and to prosper, to get education and essentially to live a good life is tied to quality and quantity of Infrastructure that we have, explaining that properties damaged under the purview of his Ministry included bridges across the nation such as Otedola and Kara bridges in Lagos, Tamburawa Bridge in Kano among others which would respectively cost 203M, 605M and 1.8 Billion naira to repair. Noting that these money could have been expended on other sectors such as health, education etc. Fashola disclosed that another form in which the bridge was abused included the conversion of spaces under the bridge to shops and the use of parking spaces for businesses, adding that the Ministry had started the process of recovery of all these spaces with the aim of ensuring that they are utilized for their legitimate purposes. The Minister also condemned the vandalism of signages on the Federal Highways across the country. He explained that "Signages have begun to reappear on the nation’s highways but these signages have become targets of some people and turned to billboards for campaign." He added that some of them were out rightly carted away. Fashola further condemned the abuse of the right of way by some people who raise structure on them, explaining that 45.72 metre from the centre line of both sides of the road lies within the right of way. The Minister also decried the building of bumps on Federal Highways which he noted are dangerous to unsuspecting road users, adding that the public buildings are also not left out by vandals. The Minister noted that though there are existing laws to punish these criminal acts but they were no longer realistic in view of the economic changes that have taken place since the time they were enacted and now and therefore called for quick amendment of the laws so that offenders could be adequately punished. Fashola also called upon the citizens to take responsibility over government properties and stand up against vandalism and willful destruction of the common wealth of the country. In his welcome Address, the Honourable Minister of Information and Culture Alhaji Lai Muhammed said the aim of the Townhall meeting was to bridge the gap between the Government and the people. The Minister said infrastructure deficit was one of the challenges facing the country and the current administration had invested hugely on it despite the lean resources available to it. "Despite a drastic drop in revenues and competing priorities especially that of tackling insecurity, the Federal Government had invested heavily in providing new infrastructure in addition to reconstruction and rehabilitating of existing ones." However, he lamented that in recent times such laudable efforts of the government were being thwarted by some unpatriotic citizens through wanton destruction of critical infrastructure thereby depriving the greater citizenry for whose benefits these projects and services are provided. The Ministers of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, and the Federal Capital Territory Abuja, Muhammed Bello also took turn to reveal the negative impact and cost of vandalism and destruction of public properties under the purview of their respective Ministry. As a way of overcoming the problem, stakeholders present at the occasion suggested that stiffer laws against  such crimes should be passed by the National Assembly,  Traditional Rulers should be involved in the security of public properties,  State governments should be made to partake in securing federal government projects within their domain, security agents should be encouraged to be more vigilant and massive sensitization of the general public should be carried out to engage the citizens in the ownership and protection of these properties. Also present at the occasion were the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Mr. Ali Patani, the Minister of State for Works and Housing, Engineer Abubakar D .Aliyu and Heads of Federal Agencies.   ...

Road Concession: FG Committed to Transparent, Competitive Bidding The Federal Government has stated that it is committed to a transparent, fair and competitive bidding process for the 12 Pilot Road corridors earmarked for concession through the Value-Added Concession programme under the Highway Development and Management Initiative (HDMI) Project Life Cycle. This was stated by the Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Babangida Hussaini during the official virtual Request for Qualification (RfQ) bid opening ceremony held at the Conference Room of the Ministry, Tuesday, June 1st, 2021.  The Request for Qualification Bid Opening Ceremony signaled the commencement of the Value-Added Concession Evaluation Exercise. The Permanent Secretary said, “The Ministry shall ensure that the procurement process is in line with the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) act and approved Public-Private partnership guidelines.” At the ceremony, the Value-Added Concession online portal was accessed for the first time since the portal was opened to receive submissions in line with existing guidelines. It was revealed that 75 companies successfully responded to the RfQ. The names and representatives of all the companies/consortiums were read out and duly recorded. Hussaini further explained that every proponent who indicated interest at this Request for Qualification stage and meets the basic prequalification criteria would be shortlisted and subsequently invited for the Request for Proposal (RFP) stage. Speaking on the initiative, the Head of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) of the Ministry, Mrs. Abimbola Asein explained that the Highways Development & Management Initiative was created by the Ministry with the objective to attract sustainable investment and funding in the development of road infrastructure and maximize the use of assets along the right of way. She explained that the rationale behind the private sector engagement was to provide alternative funding source for road development and management, pointing that the Ministry was working jointly with the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning (FMFB&NP) amongst other stakeholders to see to the realization of the project. “The buy-in of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and the National Assembly had been obtained, and the nation is looking forward to a robust procurement process that will attract capable concessionaires that will develop and manage these routes. The 12 corridors under the first phase of the Highway Development and Management Initiative are: Benin – Asaba, Abuja – Lokoja, Onitsha – Aba – Owerri, Shagamu -Benin, Abuja -Keffi – Akwanga, Kano – Maiduguri, Kano- Katsina, Lokoja – Benin, Enugu-Port Harcourt, Ilorin-Jebba, Lagos-Abeokuta, and Lagos-Badagry. The Ag. Director-General of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Mr. Micheal Ohiani said that the (ICRC), as a regulatory commission had issued a Certificate of Compliance to the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing to proceed with the procurement process of the Value-Added concession under the Highway Development and Management Initiative (HDMI). He assured participants of his commission’s role in ensuring transparency in the process pointing out that the initiative would develop Nigeria's network of federal highway corridors and boost economic development along the Right of Way. Mrs. Shulee John-Mark, representative of NGO-Network who witnessed the process described it as transparent and credible. Over 170 other stakeholders also participated in the bid opening ceremony virtually.   ...

Petition over Ife-Ifewara Road: RCCG Apologizes To Works and Housing Ministry ·      As Fashola says no payments were made in respect of rehabilitation of  the road between 2016 and 2019  ·      “The Ministry of Works and Housing deserves apology and I tender it unreservedly” – Petitioner ·      Minister explains that amount paid to contractor in 2011 was four years before Buhari’s administration ·      Says there is move to sanction recalcitrant contractors The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Thursday in Abuja tendered an “unreserved apology” to the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing over its allegation of “false claims on the rehabilitation of Ife-Afewara Road in Osun State” saying it was based on a false premise. The RCCG, in a petition to the Senate, had claimed that it had good reason to believe that the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing had paid N151.51 million to Messrs. Cartill Construzioni Nigeria Limited for the rehabilitation of Ife-Ifewara Road, a work which, according to the petitioner, was indeed carried out by the Church. In the petition dated 24th March, 2021, Secretary to the General Overseer of the RCCG, Pastor Niyi Adebanjo, claimed that the Church, after carrying out the rehabilitation of the road, learnt that the aforementioned company, which was awarded the contract since 2010 and had abandoned the work for over six years, had been paid by the Ministry for the work praying that the Money be retrieved from the company. But responding to the allegation at a public hearing before the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, SAN, said there was no proof to support the position of the petitioner that an unjust claim was made by Contractor or paid by the Ministry between 2016 and 2019. Fashola, who explained that the road in question was a State Road, added that the contract for its rehabilitation was awarded by the Federal Government in 2010 as a Parliamentary Constituency Project and domiciled in the budget of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, hence the intervention by the Ministry. Clarifying that both the award of the contract and payment of the said contract sum were made between 2010 and 2011, four years before the Buhari Administration came to being, the Minister explained further that the contract was awarded on December 21, 2010 to the contractor in the sum of N662, 760,771.75 with a commencement date of March 7, 2011 and completion date of November 7, 2011. On the sum of N151.51 million paid to the Contractor, he explained that the payment made in two tranches, was statutorily made adding that while the first payment of N99,414,115.76, made on March 31, 2011, represented 15 percent of contract sum, the second payment of N52,094,785., made on December 29, 2011, was based on submission of an Interim Statement. Fashola said the contractor achieved only 26.21 percent project completion before abandoning the project adding that the contract was as a result recommended for termination “for breach of contract” after warning letters were served on the Contractor first on March 5, 2014 and final warning on June 15, 2015. Noting that before any payment was made to any contractor, there has to be actual work done, measured and certified and recommended for consideration for approval for payment, Fashola, however, added that since the contract awarded to Messrs. Cartill had not been formally terminated, there has been budgetary provision for the road since 2010, except in years when it had zero budgeting, but the budgeted sum has never been processed since 2011 following the dismal performance of the Contractor. The Minister, who hinted on plans by the Ministry to sanction recalcitrant contractors by opening a “black book” for them based on appropriate legal advice, declared, “It is clear that contrary to the claims of RCCG, the Contractor, Cartill Nigeria Limited, did not make a claim for a refund for the cost expended on the rehabilitation of the road between 2016 and 2019”, adding that the Ministry also did not make any such payment to the Contractor. “The Federal Ministry of Works and Housing did not certify any work done on the road by the Contractor between 2016 and 2019”, he said reiterating that the two payments made to the Contractor were made in March and December 2011 respectively, “four years before the commencement of this Administration in 2014”. Maintaining that the Ministry did not consider or grant approval for anyone to intervene on the road, Fashola, who said the RCCG did not seek or obtain such approval further declared, “the federal Ministry of Works and Housing is not liable to make any refund to anyone in respect of the Road which is the statutory responsibility of the Osun State Government”. The Minister explained further that although the RCCG could be commended for the work done, there are procedures and processes for such interventions be they on Federal or State Roads, adding that the Petitioner could have sought clarification either from the Ministry of any other relevant agencies of government instead of petitioning the Senate. The Petitioner, Pastor Adebanjo, in his response expressed deep regrets for taking the matter to the Senate saying it was not, however, meant to embarrass the Minister or his Ministry but in the spirit of fighting corruption by ensuring that the money paid to the contractor was retrieved and paid to the federal Government coffers. However, on realizing that the claims he made in his petition had no factual proof and as noted by one of the Senate Committee members who advised that he should do the needful on account of available evidence, Adebanjo said, “For the fact that the Ministry of Works deserves an apology and because the whole world is listening to us, I tender that apology unreservedly before this Senate Committee”. In his submissions, the Chairman of the Committee commended the Minister for coming personally, “as always when we invite you” to respond to the petition and throwing more light on the whole issue adding that other officials of Government should borrow a leaf from him.  Other members of the Committee, who spoke, also commended the Minister for his diligence and commitment to every assignment pertaining to his responsibilities. They also noted with satisfaction that there was move by the Ministry to bring recalcitrant contractors to book. Also accompanying the Minister to the hearing were some Directors, Special Advisers and other top officials of the Ministry. ...