The Federal Executive Council on Wednesday increased the contract sums for six different projects across the country by N5.48bn.
The projects that saw their contract sums increased are federal secretariat projects in five states and the rehabilitation of Lower Usuma Dam Water Treatment Plant in Abuja.
The decisions were taken at a virtual meeting of the council presided over by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), from the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola (SAN), told State House correspondents at a briefing after the meeting that he applied to the council to increase the cost of the contracts for the construction of federal secretariats projects in Anambra, Bayelsa, Nasarawa, Osun and Zamfara States by N3.97bn.
He said it was important that the cost be increased from the initial N13.56bn in 2011 because of increase in the cost of materials.
The minister explained, “We applied to the council to revise the estimates and total cost of the contracts because the cost of materials had altered significantly since 2011 when these projects started and we want to complete them. These are the federal secretariat projects in Anambra, Bayelsa, Nasarawa, Osun and Zamfara states.
“The variation was for N3.97bn total for all the five. They are handled by different contractors, but each one wanted a variation and the total sum of variation came to N3.97bnn and we sought council’s approval and the approval was granted.
“So, the old contract price of N13,565,621,307 has now been increased to N17,541,456,168.
“These secretariats are necessary to enable us to house federal workers in these states. The problem arose from the creation of new states.
“In assets sharing, some of the old states took the whole secretariats. So our staff in those states, across all federal ministries, are either in rented official premises for their work or squatting in state government premises.”
Fashola said earlier contracts for the supply of furniture meant for the secretariats had been fully executed and the items stored in warehouses, waiting for the buildings to be completed so that they could be installed.
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mohammed Bello, said the council approved the variation of the cost of the rehabilitation of Lower Usuma Dam Water Treatment Plant, Phase II in the sum of N1.51bn.
He said, “The contract was awarded to a company called Cupero Nigeria Limited with a completion period of 12 months.
“The contract was originally awarded at N1,017,979,566. The additional sum of N1,510,206,066 approved by FEC brings the total contract sum to N2.53bn.”
He added that the scope of work included general rehabilitation, repairs of and replacement of electro-mechanical components.
