The Federal Executive Council (FEC), on Wednesday, approved a total of N43.3 billion for a road and various agricultural projects in the country.
This was disclosed, while addressing State House Correspondents, by the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fasola (SAN) and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaji Sabo Nanono.
Speaking on the project approved for his ministry, the Minister of Works and and Housing, Mr Fasola, said the FEC approved the reassignment of the 9th Mile section of the Enugu-Onitsha Highway from a previous contract to a new one.
According to him, the project is a 15 kilometre section of the road, costing a total N29.4 billion and now reassigned to the contractor handling a substantial part of the entire stretch of the road; RCC.
“We had one memorandum in respect of the 9th Mile section of the Enugu-Onitsha Highway just to disengage the contractor who was previously handling that 15 kilometre section and award it to the contractor that now has the majority of the rout, which is RCC. That section was determined and approved for re-award to RCC so we now have a wholesome strategy to complete that road.
“Of course, the 9th Mile section, as you might know, is a very tricky, difficult area; very steep, dangerous, a point of many accidents before, so we have to change design and do a lot of other alterations in quality to ensure now that we manage, not only the erosion there, but that very good work is done.
“So Council approved that in favour of Messrs RCC for the sum of N29.4 billion. It’s rolled into the existing contract, which I think was for 24 months”, he said.
In his own presentation to the press, the Minister of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Alhaji Nanono, said the FEC approved a total of N13.9 billion for a number of projects, which are centred around combating some pests and diseases militating against food security.
“We had one memorandum from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and that was on pest control, animal diseases like rabies, lungs and liver diseases as well as Quella birds, especially in the Northeastern part of the country. There are 12 frontline states that are being affected affected by Quella birds, grasshoppers and those that have been pestering us.
“The prevalence of rabies in the country has risen quite substantially, in fact in some cases we have recorded some deaths. The Federal Government has taken serious look at it and has approved intervention fund of about N13.9 billion for this”, he said.
Also presenting the FEC’s approval of the report of a Cabinet Committee on the effective date of take off for the new 7.5% VAT on government contracts, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, said the takeoff date has been set for February 1, 2020.
“By law, the new VAT came into effect on the 1st of February, 2020. Government had worried about the implications of this on contracts that had been issued earlier than this year. So, the contracts that are being handled by various ministries, particularly Ministry of Work, for instance, are coming from many years back.
“So, should the VAT on those contracts be 7.5% or 5% as earlier signed on to? A final decision was reached today. This is that new contracts that are signed from February 1 going forward will attract 7.5% VAT. Contracts earlier than February 1 signed on 5% VAT will remain at 5%. So, there is no more confusion on this matter”, he said.

By Bolaji Ogundele