FEC ratifies N27bn for road project connecting Ondo, Edo

A 27km road connecting the states of Ondo and Edo has received approval from the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for a N27 billion restoration project.

Lai Mohammed, the minister of information and culture, made this information public to State House reporters during the Council meeting on Wednesday in Abuja, which was presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.

He said: “The Minister of Works and Housing presented a memo for the approval of the award of contract for the rehabilitation of the Iduani-Otuwo road which links Ondo and Edo States.

“The contract is for the sum of N27, 233, 577, 000 billion and it has a completion period of 27 months.”

Niyi Adebayo, the minister of industry, trade, and investment, spoke to the media about the FEC meeting's results and said that the council had approved the National Sugar Master Plan's second phase, which began in 2012.

According to him, the council agreed to start the second phase from 2023 to 2033 for an additional ten years.

“In 2012, the 1st phase of the sugar master plan was approved, lasting for 10 years until 2022.

“Today the council approved the extension from 2023-2033 and the whole idea is for the development of the sugar industry, aimed at self-sufficiency in sugar production,” he stated.

Mr. Adebayo claims that the strategy includes a number of legislative initiatives and financial incentives to boost demand and draw private sector investment to the sugar sector.

The first phase of the strategy included participation from four significant investors, who created 15, 000 employment while acquiring around 200 hectares of land for the cultivation of sugarcane to increase local sugar production.

Olamilekan Adegbite, the minister of mines and steel development, also informed the reporters that the council had approved the construction of a retaining wall for a salt project in the state of Ebonyi.

The wall, according to the minister, is there to prevent salt from being naturally washed away.

If fully utilised, he claimed, salt might prevent the nation from having to import the product and save millions of dollars.

The commodity might also be exported, the minister continued, generating more income for the nation.

country.

“We came to council for approval because there is an intervention; direct intervention by the president for a salt project in Ebonyi State.

“We import our salt from abroad spending annually in the region of about 88 million dollars.

“Now by this project, it will mitigate that. It will not satisfy local demand but at least meet some of the local demand and save us the foreign exchange.

“The salt is in Ebonyi State but it cannot be mined without this infrastructure that we are about to build.

“We are building a retaining wall because water comes in and washes the salt away every time.

“These are salt lakes that occur naturally. After the environmental impact assessment was done, the report suggested that we should build a retaining wall,” he said.

The project, according to Mr. Adegbite, would take six months to complete and would cost the presidency directly. The proposed wall would be 27 kilometres long and around 2.9 metres high.

Source