Tinubu leads power taskforce as FEC approves rail, road projects

The Federal Executive Council on Thursday approved contracts worth $2.99bn for three rail projects across Lagos, Kano and Kaduna states.

It also approved contracts for road and bridge projects worth over N7tn, comprising 10 major projects spanning all six geopolitical zones.

This includes a N1.86tn extension of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway through Akwa Ibom State, a N548.98bn contract to demolish and fully rebuild the Carter Bridge in Lagos, and a new N1.79tn section of the Sokoto-Badagry Expressway.

This was as it constituted a presidential power sector taskforce to be chaired by President Bola Tinubu.

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, speaking at a post-council meeting briefing at the State House, Abuja, announced that the council reached a set of “far-reaching decisions” arising from a comprehensive review conducted by a committee chaired by the Chief of Staff to the President.

The committee had been constituted on March 4 to establish and operationalise the Grid Asset Management Company.

Idris explained, “That committee undertook a very comprehensive review of the commercial, investment and institutional framework underpinning GAMCO.

“Based on the report submitted to Council today, arising from that report, I am happy to announce that Council today took very far-reaching decisions,” Idris said.

The first was the appointment of Mr Rilwan Babalola as Special Adviser to the President on Power.

The second decision was the constitution of a Power Sector Reform Taskforce to be personally chaired by the President himself.

Idris said, “Council has taken another far-reaching decision by constituting a task force on power sector reform. All of us know that power is a major issue in this country, and Mr President, consistent with his vision of ensuring economic prosperity for Nigeria, has decided that renewed attention be put on the power sector.

“This power sector taskforce, it is called the Task Force on Power Sector Reform. Mr President himself will be the chairman of that committee, and the newly appointed Special Adviser on Power, Mr Lanre Babalola, will sit in from time to time for Mr President.”

The 10-member committee comprises the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, the Minister of State for Gas, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, the Chairman of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, one member representing generating companies and one member representing distribution companies.

Idris said the composition could be expanded at the President’s discretion.

“The goal here is to ensure that there is a total overhaul of the power sector, without which real progress cannot be made in terms of industrialisation, which will ultimately lead to the economic prosperity of Nigeria,” Idris said.

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, said, “For economic development, you need infrastructure that works, infrastructure that helps you with productivity and growth, and also improves the quality of life, in line with the development agenda of this government.

“Council today approved the award of contracts for three transformative rail projects. One is the Lagos Green Line Rail Project, Phase One.

“The second is the Kano State Metro City Rail Project. And the third is the Kaduna State Light Rail Project.”

Oyedele explained that the three projects, to be sponsored by the Ministry of Finance Incorporated on behalf of the Federal Government with counterpart funding, will collectively cost $2.99bn.

“These three cities are very important and critical. All cities are important, but this is where you have your 10 per cent effort yielding 90 per cent results,” Oyedele explained.

The Lagos Green Line is arguably one of the most anticipated components of the Lagos metropolitan rail network.

It is designed to run from Marina in the heart of Lagos Island to Lekki and beyond, serving the densely populated Lagos Island and Lekki corridor that is home to some of the highest concentrations of commercial and residential activity in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Kano Metro City Rail and the Kaduna Light Rail are situated in two of the most economically significant cities in the north.

Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, announced the approvals of road projects, as he listed a separate roll of major road projects ready for inauguration ahead of Tinubu’s third anniversary in office on May 29.

Thursday’s approvals are the single largest batch of road project approvals the Tinubu-led FEC has approved in one sitting.

According to Umahi, the first project was the Suleja-Minna and Kaduna roads, which he describes as one of the administration’s most troubled inherited road projects.

The Suleja-Minna corridor, a 71-kilometre stretch previously awarded to Salini under a Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited tax credit scheme, under which, according to Umahi, nothing tangible was achieved in five years, had been rescoped and split into two lots.

“A section of it is 71km, dualised, and was awarded to Salini under NNPCL’s tax credit, and for five years, nothing tangible was achieved. And so the Ministry of Works decided to terminate the project and rescoped it into two lots,” Umahi said.

Lot 1, covering the first 71km, was awarded to CGC at N91bn, and Lot 2, covering the next 71km, was awarded to CCECC at N93bn, both to be executed on reinforced concrete pavement.

The council also approved the reconstruction of the Mando-Birnin Gwari Road in Kaduna State, a 122.8-kilometre project that Umahi described as one of the specific infrastructure commitments Tinubu made during his presidential campaign.

He explained, “The project is very important to the people of Kaduna State. It is 122.8km, and the contract sum is N178.12bn.

“The outer shoulders, which are 2.75 metres each, shall be done on reinforced concrete pavement, and because of the urgency, the carriage way will be done on asphalt. It’s a three-lane road at 11.3 metres’ width.”

Umahi said the council approved the complete demolition and reconstruction of the Carter Bridge.

He said the Council’s decision followed independent investigations to determine the structural fate of one of Lagos’s oldest bridges.

Umahi noted that the independent investigations commissioned at multiple points, in 2013, 2019 and again under the current administration through Julius Berger, had all confirmed that the bridge’s underwater piles and pile caps had deteriorated at a “geometrical progression,” leaving no viable option but complete demolition and reconstruction.

He explained, “We convened a stakeholders’ engagement, and all the technical experts all over the country, and even internationally, all agreed that we could not redeem Carter Bridge, and it has to be completely demolished and rebuilt.

“We’ve gone through rigorous procurement and design. The initial total length of that bridge was 1.525 kilometres, with three lanes, dualised. We have now increased the project to 1.93 kilometres because we increased a flyover ramp, so that the bottleneck that is usually there will no longer exist.

“The total contract sum approved is N548.98bn. CCCC won the contract after Julius Berger, CCECC, CBC, and China Harbour High Tech all bid. The new bridge will have a navigational waterway of 105 metres by two.”

Umahi also listed a separate N24.89bn for underwater elements of the Third Mainland Bridge, also by Julius Berger, among the projects ready for inauguration.

The council also approved the fifth section of the Sokoto-Badagry Expressway, a 360-kilometre dual carriageway at a total cost of N1.785tn, with 30 per cent to be paid by the Federal Government and 70 per cent through external financing.

The project will be tolled, Umahi emphasised, adding that the cost per kilometre of standard carriageway will be N3.2bn.

He argued that the figure compared favourably with the Abuja-Kano Expressway, which cost N3.3bn per kilometre and took eight years to deliver on asphalt.

“When people talk about cost and return on investment, the cost on this project is N3.2bn per kilometre of standard carriageway. And when you look at Abuja-Kano, 240 kilometres, N800bn, done on asphalt over eight years, the cost is N3.3bn per kilometre.

“I should also mention that when we put up the external financing component of Sokoto-Badagry Section 1 on the international market, it was oversubscribed by $100m, and they said the project was undervalued but with the highest quality of performance. So we are very proud.”

Two sections of the Trans-Sahara Highway, the administration’s Third Legacy Project, also secured FEC approval.

Umahi said Section 1, running 123 kilometres from Bonny down to the Benue boundary, was approved at N454bn.

Section 2, continuing through Benue, Kogi and Nasarawa to the Ogo bridge, covering 173 kilometres, was approved at N683bn.

Umahi noted that second carriageways for both sections had also been initiated.

The council also approved the extension of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway through Akwa Ibom State, which Umahi described as the most technically challenging section of the project, traversing deep swamp terrain.

He said, “That project is in very terrible swamp. It involves removing pits of more than 12 metres, reclaiming with lumps in layers and sharp sand, and bringing it up to about five metres above the existing natural ground level.

“It is 165.6 kilometres dualised, to be done on reinforced concrete pavement with solar lighting and drainage, over 36 months. The contract sum is N1.86tn.”

FEC also approved N151bn for a Bodo-Bonny extension, an 8.9km dual carriageway with two giant flyovers connecting to the East-West Road, to be done through the LNG tax credit scheme.

The minister said, “We intend to build rest houses along the corridor with CCTV to monitor the entire section from the East-West Road down to Bonny Island.”

According to Umahi, three additional road projects were approved.

They include the dualisation of the Ibadan-Ijebu-Ode Road in Oyo and Ogun states, which runs 56 kilometres by two, for N295bn to be constructed by Julius Berger; the Oshogbo-Akoda-Bunga Road in Osun State (59.2 kilometres, N101bn); and the Oshogbo-Iwo-Ibadan Road in Osun State (90.9 kilometres, N114bn).

The Yobe-to-Gombe section, which runs 125 kilometres, a dual carriageway, also received approval at a contract sum of N1.25tn.

Umahi revealed that several projects were ready to be inaugurated by the President ahead of his third anniversary.

In the North West, they include a 30-kilometre section of the Abuja-Kaduna Super Highway Lot 1, done on reinforced concrete pavement and an 81-kilometre West corridor valued at N252bn, and the Kaduna-Pambegua Road at 77 kilometres, N33bn.

In the South West, they include the first section of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, valued at N1.23tn, a 24-kilometre section of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway constructed for N57bn with solar lighting and completed deck works on the Third Mainland Bridge worth N25bn, Carter Bridge deck worth N24.89bn and repairs on the Marina Bridge access ramps completed at N22bn.

In the South South, they include the 37.9-kilometre Bodo-Bonny Road completed by Julius Berger at N280bn.

Umahi also listed a 43-kilometre Port Harcourt road section valued at N83bn among the completed works.

In the South East, completed projects include a 33-kilometre section of the Onitsha-Nnewi Road built for N66bn by SKCC, the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway section, which is 56.1 kilometres by two, by Arab Contractors, and a 23km-span bridge in Enugu State valued at N24bn.

Minister of State for Works, Bello Goronyo, also announced that the Bauchi-Gombe Road, which is 38 kilometres long and the Azare section of the Kano-Jigawa-Bauchi Road (37 kilometres, completed by Triacta) are fully done and ready for inauguration in the North East.