Photo Caption
L-R: FCT Minister, Barrister Nyesom Wike, Minister of State, Dr Mariya Mahmoud, FCTA Permanent Secretary, Mr Olusade Adesola and Executive Secretary, FCDA, Engr Shehu Hadi Ahmed, during the meeting with major contractors in Abuja on Monday, 28/08/2023
The Federal Capital Territory Administration will mobilize contractors back to site to resume work on the various ongoing and abandoned projects in the FCT, even as road resurfacing projects are set to commence in the Garki and Wuse Districts of the nation’s capital.
Minister of the FCT, Barrister Nyesom Ezenwo Wike who made this disclosure in Abuja on Monday, when he met heads of over 15 construction companies working on various projects in the FCT, assured that the necessary funding will be made available for them to return to site and complete the projects.
Addressing the contractors at the start of the meeting, the FCT Minister who declared that Abuja is now a construction site, disclosed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has given him marching orders to ensure that the Abuja Metro line is completed and put to use, adding that ongoing road projects in the FCT would also be completed to improve the road network in the nation’s capital.
As a show of its determination, the FCT Minister said that the Administration will restructure how projects are funded by tying specific projects to internally generated revenue (IGR) sources as against relying solely on federal allocations.
The Minister also hinted at increased allocation from the federal government to improve funding for projects in the FCT.
Barrister Wike therefore assured that the FCT Administration will not owe any contractor as each project will be tied to specific funds, warning that contractors must deliver the projects within agreed time frames without failure.
According to him, “Now the time has come for action. First of all, on the metro line, those of you who heard what Mr. President said yesterday (at the NBA Annual General Convention), he did give a marching order that he wants to ride on the metro line and so it’s a key project that we must achieve, adding.
“We are going to restructure how we fund you so that you go back to site and do work. I don’t want to hear that this happened and this didn’t happen. Ordinarily, I would have gone back to look at performance or no performance, but I feel there is no need to go back. Let’s move forward and see what we can achieve.” he said.
“I have agreed with the Hon. Minister of State and I have told the management that we must restructure the way projects are funded. We must not fund projects depending only on the national budget. We must also fund projects through our direct internally generated revenue. I will not be a party to give out contract and then there is no money to fund.
”We are going to fund you, give you your money to go to site then you will tell us the time within which the project will be finished because I’m going to attach funds to it. If we agree on three months, it’s three months. If I give six months, it’s six months. I hear no excuses at all because I know that we are not going to owe. Yes, we are not going to owe.”
The Minister also warned that the FCTA will not tolerate any work that is below standard, stressing, that all the ongoing projects will be directly supervised by his office and the office of the Minister of State to ensure compliance.
