The Federal Executive Council (FEC) yesterday approved N2.15bn for a road linking Benue to Nasarawa and a national freight office in Jibia, a border town in Katsina state.
The approval was made at the end of the FEC meeting presided over by the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo at the State House, Abuja.
Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola and his Transport counterpart Rotimi Amaechi told State House Correspondents that the Benue road got N1.6bn and the Jibia freight office got N551m.
On the Benue road, Fashola said: “We had only one memorandum and it was just a cost review memorandum really; to approve cost variations on Osegudu-Uweto road. That road, as you might know, links the Loko-Oweto road, which is now substantially completed. The Usegudu-Oweto road links the road to that bridge on the Benue side that helps connect Nasarawa from the Loko side to Benue.
“So, the revision for that contract was N1.6bn extra because the contract was awarded using 2010 rates and the contractor asked for review to cushion cost and naira depreciations and council approved that,” he said.
Amaechi said: “We awarded the national freight office in Jibia for the sum of N551,810,060 and the contract is to last to 36 weeks. You know that the national freight office is usually located at border post. So, the border post between Katsina and Niger Republic is where it is located.”
