By Anthony Nwachukwu
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved separate contracts for two agencies under the Ministry of Transportation, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC), towards improving their efficiency in their services.
While the NRC got approval for contracts totaling N453.90 billion for rolling stock, operational and maintenance equipment for the currently under-construction Kano-Maradi standard gauge, the NPA got contracts totaling N510.9 million for fire service search and rescue vans for some ports and its Lagos headquarters.
Council “considered the memorandum and approved the award of the contract as recommended and reviewed by the Bureau of Public Procurement,” the Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Sambo, told State House Correspondents after the meeting at the Presidential Villa in Abuja Wednesday.
He explained that the ministry presented two memoranda to council on behalf of two of its agencies, adding that FEC considered a memorandum for the ultimate rail management by the NRC.
The NRC sought the council’s “consideration and approval for the award of contract for the procurement of rolling stock, operation or maintenance equipment for the Kano-Maradi standard gauge rail line that is currently under construction.
“The contract was awarded to Messrs Mota Engineering Nigeria Limited, who are the contractors handling this particular project in the sum of $984,722,302.5, inclusive of 7.5 per cent VAT, with a completion period of four years.”
The FEC had earlier approved for the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) a contract for the construction and supply of customised fire service search and rescue vans for extrication of accident victims for Rivers’ ports in Port Harcourt, Lagos Port Complex, Tincan Island Port and the Marina headquarters in Lagos.
According to Sambo, FEC “considered the memorandum and approved the award of the contract as recommended and reviewed by the Bureau of Public Procurement.”
He added that it was in “the sum of N510,934,600, inclusive of 7.5 per cent VAT and with a completion period of nine months in favour of Messrs All Works Commercial Company Limited.”
