By Francis Ogwo
An approval of N9.7bn has been made by the Federal Executive Council has for the construction of a second runway at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International airport, Abuja and the reactivation of the Farin Ruwa multipurpose dam in Wamba local government area of Nasarawa State.
This development was disclosed by the Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika at a briefing with State House correspondents on Wednesday during which, he added that the approved N1,659,592,908.78 for the proposed second Abuja airport runway included cost of consultancy services for design.
According to the Minister, the contract has a tenure period of 12 months, with the government expecting to have completed the project if awarded before the expiration of the present administration.
In his words: “Today in council, a memo from Aviation was considered and it is the consultancy services for design; pre-contract services for the construction of a new runway here in Abuja.
“The contract went to a consortium of consultants, at a total contract sum of N1,659,592,908.78, this included 7.5% of Value Added Tax (VAT) also, with an exchange rate of N360 to dollar and this was approved,” he said.
In his separate remark, the Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, disclosed that the Federal Executive Council has approved N8.14bn for Farin Ruwa multipurpose dam and added that Nasarawa State government started the project in 2013 but requested that the federal government took over the project to be completed in 2018.
Adamu said President Muhammadu Buhari approved the project with provision for water supply, irrigation and 20 megawatts hydropower station.
“All we intend to do at the federal level is to complete the dam and then hope that we can get concessionaire to take over the component of the hydropower, which includes the construction of the powerhouse, the turbines and the transmission lines.
“The contract sum is N8.14bn inclusive of all taxes with the completion period of 24 months. It comprises of the completion of the dam embankment, spring lay and outlet works for the water supply and hydropower component, 20km of access road and rehabilitation of some service quarters.”
