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  • BRF: Resolutely focussed at 54

    BRF: Resolutely focussed at 54

    By Hakeem Bello

     

    May 2017 was appraisal time of the mid-term of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari in office.

    Expectedly, much attention was on the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, as it controls the fulcrum, which the country’s development revolves around. While Power plays a vital role in its industrial development, Works (roads, bridges) facilitates the transaction of business and social activities across its boundaries and cultures while Housing gives both stability and security to its human resource.

    There were, and there will still continue to be truths, half-truths, and outright falsehoods. Indeed, in a clime where some people earn political patronage or keep their positions by how savagely they can disparage the subject of this discourse, certain outlets and their tendencies have simply become predictable.

    However, as C.P Scott wrote in 1921, “comments are free, but facts are sacred.” The fact is that with a reputation built not on quick fixes but enduring solutions and far sightedness, Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola SAN remains resolutely focused. As he turns 54 today, it would still be in tune with the spirit of mid term assessment to look at what BRF has been doing with the tax payers time as a public officer.

     

    Flag-off

    The stewardship of Mr Fashola at the helm of the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing started in November 2015 when President Buhari inaugurated his Cabinet. Shortly after, the Minister held a media briefing where he outlined the Ministry’s focus in the three sectors. In Power, the promise was to increase power availability (Incremental Power), then advance it to steady supply and ultimately to uninterrupted supply nationwide. This he followed up with a Roadmap clearly setting out how he and his team intend to achieve this. In Works (Infrastructure), the promise was to increase road connectivity, decrease journey time and improve journey experience by completing on going projects; and in Housing, it was to build acceptable and affordable houses for the citizenry. In summary: galvanize the economy through infrastructure development.

     

    Power: Plants and all

    Fact: at inception, the administration inherited 2,690 MW of power and only oversight through regulatory agencies instituted by law and on transmission of electricity which it is carrying out through the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN); the 26 power plants (23 gas and three hydro) having been privatized.

    What’s being done to achieve Incremental Power? With provision of funds and determination to fulfill the promises made at the media briefing on Incremental Power, resuscitation of the 29 MW Dadin Kowa Hydro-Power plant in Gombe State should be completed in November, going by the assurance given to the Minister in March this year, by the project manager. The 132KV lines to evacuate the power are in place. The 40 MW Gurara Power Station is expected to finish in the first quarter of next year and with the arrival of its standardization equipment, the 10MW Katsina Wind Mill is expected to finish before quarter two. The diesel and gas dual fired 215MW power plant in Kaduna is also expected to finish this year. There is also another Power Emergency Project that President Buhari approved for General Electric to give 240MW of power in Afam, Rivers State. It is also expected to finish this year. The 40 MW Kashimbilla Hydro Power Plant, in Taraba State, has been revived and now 99% completed. The works on the evacuation of power including transmission lines, switchyards and substations from the power plant to Takum, Wukari and the existing substation in Yandev is expected to be completed by the second quarter of 2018 subject to availability of funds.

    Work has resumed on the 700MW Zungeru hydroelectric power plant in Niger State, which was stalled by litigation for over three years.The nation moves closer to achieving power security with more alternatives to Gas fired plants. Work on the 450MW Azura Power Plant in Benin, was also stalled because the approvals and agreements required by the private companies to source for funds could not be signed for more than one year. President Buhari finally signed the required on assumption of office and this enabled the investors to commence construction. So also, the Mambilla hydro plant, which had been on the drawing board long before the coming of this Government. The Minister in an interview with the Daily Trust last week explained that significant progress had been made in terms of project planning by working with various stakeholders and with a “No Objection “ certificate secured from the Bureau of Public Procurement on Monday 19th June , work is set to commence on this long drawn yet all important project..

     

    Energy Mix

    Against the backdrop of the country’s vulnerability on account of its over-reliance on a single fuel source –Gas- for Power, perhaps, one of the best things that has happened to the Power Sector since the present administration took office is the development of an Energy Mix.

    Developed by the Ministry and unveiled at the National Council on Power Meeting held in Kaduna in July last year, the initiative has since set off a chain of activities on the diversification of the power generation. For example, the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) on behalf of the Federal Government in July last year signed Power Purchase Agreements with 14 solar power developers to produce over 1,000MW of solar power. As a follow-up, two of the developers, Afrinegia Nigeria Limited and CT Cosmos Nigeria Limited, on 13th April signed the Put/Call Option Agreements (PCOA). Co-ordinated by NBET, the PCOA is a key aspect of the PPA to deal with any premature termination. Afrinegia Nigeria Limited plans to deliver 50MW while CT Cosmos will deliver 70MW to the grid. There is also a plan for a new solar farm in Jigawa State, which is under procurement and planning. It is expected to add a minimum of another 1,000MW to the grid. In conjunction with other stakeholders discussions are also in progress with two coal developers who will add significant coal power to the grid.

    Individuals and businesses in the country are also being encouraged to partake in investing in small captive solar initiatives. The objective is to create an Energy Security for the country by diversifying the energy source. In addition, the policy encourages the siting of power plants close to the source of energy. At the Council meeting in Kaduna, a target of 2030 was set for the achievement of 55 per cent gas,16 per cent, solar, 15 per cent, large hydro project; 4 per cent, wind; 3 per cent, biomass and 3 per cent, coal. Government has led from the front in this aspect with the completion of the 1.2MW Clean Energy Photovoltaic System, a solar energy plant and first of its kind in Nigeria, to power the Lower Usman Dam power treatment plant, the main source of potable water to the Federal Capital Territory. Built in collaboration with the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the project’s first phase, commissioned in August 2016, is producing 1.2MW of solar energy.

    Policy actions

    From the outset, Fashola, a firm believer in the sanctity of contracts was not persuaded by call in some quarters for the outright cancellation of the privatization of the power sector. Rather, he believes that the process and the sector should be methodically reviewed and reformed. This is the sum and substance of the Power Sector Reform Programme which focuses on introducing reforms, reducing losses in the distribution companies, enhancing the sector’s financial viability, increasing access to electricity services, and mobilizing private sector investment. With support secured from the Federal Executive Council, members of the National Assembly heading the Power Committees and the World Bank Group, the Programme is already being implemented, though many are still awaiting a “formal” launch. These policies include the inauguration of Commissioners for the National Electricity Regulation Commission (NERC) and the Rural Electrification Agency Board on the governance side as well as the NBET’s N701 billion two-year Payment Assurance Guarantee approved to ensure that all those who generate power to the grid are paid . The Minister has, in exercise of his powers under Section 27 of the Electric Power Sector Reform Act 2005 directed NERC to permit four categories of customers to buy power directly from a licensee other than their electricity distribution companies, once they are dissatisfied with the performance of the latter. As Fashola puts it, “ it is like going to Nestle to get your products directly instead of waiting for the distributor.” (Please visit www.nercng.org, on “Eligibility in the Power Sector”.)

     

    Boosting transmission

    In terms of transmission capacity over which the public continues to express much anxiety, although the Ministry inherited over 100 uncompleted transmission projects, TCN is expanding and maintaining the transmission lines and completing projects started before the privatization. It has paid contractors and obtained the necessary approvals for them to return to work. The projects include the Irrua and Okada Transmission Projects, both in Edo State; Itu-Calabar Transmission Line, Ikot Ekpene-Calabar, Ikot Ekpene-Alaoji, and Ikot-Ekpene-Ugwuaji Transmission Lines and the Damboa Transmission Power in Borno State which was stopped at the peak of insurgency.

    Also shipping companies and warehouse owners, who kept custody of containers abandoned by unpaid contractors for almost a decade, have begun releasing them. In fact, the first batch of over 387 containers was released to the contractors due provisions made in the 2016 budget.

    There is also a five-year plan to boost power transmission capacity to 20,000MW beginning from 5,500MW to 10,000MW in the next three years. The plan targets transmission capacity of 8,200MW by 2018 and 10,000MW by 2019. To achieve this, the Federal Government is working on actual numbers of transmission towers that would take the nation from 7,000MW to 20,000MW in each growth plan; how many kilometers of cables, wires, breakers and tons of steel would be required in each stage as well as securing Right of Ways, settle compensation issues and every other issue that could possibly impede the implementation plan. Meanwhile, 59 expansion projects are currently being worked on across the country. The various transmission projects under the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) are also being completed.

    As Fashola promised during the first anniversary of the administration, attention has recently been directed at rolling out the Rural Electrification Implementation Programme “to improve access to power for rural communities”. On 2 May, , the Minister inaugurated the Board of the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) and charged it with increasing access to electricity in the shortest possible time for the millions of Nigerian rural communities and villages as well as some urban cities yet to access electricity from the national grid. These communities lack access partly because the 330/132 KV and 132/33 KV lines (popularly called the high-tension wires), which the connection is often made through, run over long distances; the high cost of extending the lines to these communities, most of which are sparsely populated, and tariff being fixed, investment in them was not attractive. The Electricity Sector Reform Act, passed in 2005, set up the REA and mandated that the Implementation plan for rural electrification should be prepared within a year for Presidential Approval. That approval came 11 years late, with President Buhari’s stroke of the pen. The implementation Plan which recommends a combination of grid extension and development of independent grids, using new technology such as solar, to make these communities, see light, so to speak, had been anchored on some existing projects such as the completion of over 2,000 uncompleted or abandoned grid extension projects which started life in 1999 as constituency projects.

    Government intends to resuscitate six of the over 50 small hydro dams across the country and activate their power component, which, the Minister says had received Federal Executive Council’s approval, had also been advertised, and had received Expressions of Interest which were now being evaluated. The third anchor is the development of Independent Power Plants (IPPs) in 37 federal universities and seven teaching hospitals in rural areas and the building of independent power grids from there to connect adjoining rural and unconnected communities. The Rural Electrification Agency (REA) signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Tuesday, 20th June 2017 with eight (8) Federal Universities and one Teaching Hospital for the first phase of the Federal Government’s Energizing Education Programme (EEP) which is also being used as anchor for the electrification of rural communities in the areas where the tertiary institutions are located.

     

     

    Safe, smooth roads

    It was in June 2016 that contractors were mobilized to return to sites they had abandoned for over two years because of non-payment of contract fees. Today, work is going on in all states of the Federation in terms of road rehabilitation and reconstruction. , Between February and April the Minister had undertaken an inspection tour of these road projects in 34 States across the six geopolitical zones of the country. In the South-East, which was the first port of call, at least 600 kilometers of roads are under rehabilitation/ construction across the zone’s five states. They include the Enugu-Aba- Port Harcourt Expressway, which runs through Anambra, Enugu, Imo, Abia and Ebonyi States covering about 31 roads as well as construction of pedestrian bridges and flyovers, traffic signs and lights; the outstanding section of Onitsha-Enugu Road being handled by Reynolds Construction Company (RCC); Umana-Ndiagu-Adaebele-Udi Road in Ndiagu, Nsukka—Oboloafor -Ihamufu Road, Ninth Mile-Nsukka-Oboloafor Road, among others in Enugu State;Ohafia-Oso Road (In Ebonyi and Abia States: 11.7 km), Nnenwe-Uduma-Uburu Road, Section1 (14 km in Enugu/Ebonyi), rehabilitation of Abakaliki-Afikpo Road; Section 1 (20.5 km), rehabilitation of Abakaliki-Afikpo Road Section 11 (19.5 km) and Construction of Obubra-Ikwo-Onueke-Nkomoro-Agba-Ezekuna-Ogboji-Nara-Cross River Border Road (7 km), among others in Ebonyi; Aba-Port Harcourt Dual Carriageway (section 11), Umuahia Tower-Aba Township Rail/Road Bridge Crossing (56.1Km), rehabilitation of Lokpanta-Umuahia Tower (59.5km) and rehabilitation of Calabar-Itu-Ikot-Ekpene-Aba-Owerri Section 111: Ikot-Ekpene-Ikot Umuoessien-Aba Road in Abia/Akwa-Ibom (43.2km), among others in Ebonyi while in Imo State, federal road projects currently on-going include the Owerri-Umuahia Road, Sections 1,11 and 111, the Ikot-Ekpene Border: Aba-Owerri Dualisation Road Section 1, Phase 1 (11.26km), Mbaise-Ngwa Road Ohase 1 (14 km), Amanwaozuzu-Uzoagba-Eziama-Orie-Amakohia Road (10km) and Oba-Nnewi-Okigwe Road Section 11, among others. On the Second Niger Bridge in Onitsha, Anambra State, the contractor is working to re-mobilize to site, having stopped due to lack of payment.

    In the North East, six federal roads are, among others, undergoing reconstruction or rehabilitation in Bauchi State, including the Suare-Azare, Azare-Potiskum Road, Ningi-Ajalokuna-Fudulamata Road, Jukun-Zaero Road and Zaero-Bassa-Ningi Road. In Gombe State, the two on-going road projects are the Gombe-Bauchi Federal Highway and the Gombe –Numan-Yola Road while in Taraba, Yobe and Maiduguri, the major roads under construction include the Kano-Maiduguri Dual Carriageway that traverses three States. In the South-West the on-going road projects include the Ogbomosho-Oshogbo Road that connects Oyo State with neighbouring Osun, the Oyo-Ogbomosho Road that connects the State through to Kwara, the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway that connects Ibadan to Ogun and to Lagos and Lagos-Shagamu Expressway among others . Similarly, there are projects going on in the North-Central, the North- West and the South –South. When Fashola says the Federal Government is present in all States of the Federation, he means it because he has been on the roads to see the projects.

     

    Affordable, Acceptable houses

    In the Housing Sector, construction of houses under the National Housing Programme has commenced in 33 states, which have allocated land for the purpose. And in line with the decision to build houses which will suit the climatic, socio-cultural and land use peculiarities of the people, the designs of one, two and three-bedroom bungalows have been adopted for the Northern states while the designs of one, two and three bedroom blocks of flats have been adopted for Southern states. In addition, the Ministry has also identified inputs such as doors, windows, tiles, paint and roofing materials that could be made locally and as earlier resolved by the Minister that only Made-in-Nigeria inputs will be used unless there is no local production capacity. To provide investment information for local manufacturers, the ministry has done some inventory of quantities of materials needed in the project. Based on that inventory, 22,288 doors; 27,849 windows; 3,502 water cisterns; 3,502 wash hand basins; 2,830 kitchen sinks; 261,299 sq. metres of floor tiles; 178, 680 Sq. metres of wall tiles; 561,119 litres of paints; and 342,960 Sq. metres of roofing materials would be needed in the first phase of construction which will also require 413,000 man days of skilled labour, and 440,000 man days of unskilled labour. This, of course, means continuous job for local manufacturers and artisans.

     

    Job creation

    The whole essence of the on-going infrastructure renewal, whether in the Power, Works or Housing sector, is, first, to stimulate jobs. This purpose has been achieved to a very significant extent. As announced by the Minister recently at an account of stewardship rendering Town Hall Meeting, the Ministry generated 193,469 jobs (9,000 direct and 60,000 indirect in Power; 17,749 direct and 52,000 indirect in Works and 13,680 direct and 41,040 indirect in Housing) while also empowering 542 local contractors during the 2016 budget year.

    During his tour, the Minister engaged with these young men and women, working to deliver on the contracts, delivering service which will touch the lives of the greatest number of the people and in so doing restore the country’s economy to the path of growth and prosperity. On each of the stops Fashola would also dutifully deliver the message of his principal, President Muhammadu Buhari’s gratitude and commendation to the teeming young men and women for working hard to rebuild Nigeria and contributing to the economic recovery from a recession spun by several years of profligacy.

    Incredible strength, work ethic

    Whether sitting through grueling meetings to make peace and get projects or contracts (which had stalled for years before his assumption of office), moving from one power plant or Transmission station to chair going again, chairing the monthly meetings of the Power Sector Operators, in different cities and states or enduring hours of bus travelling by road to inspect roads, housing or power projects under his watch, Fashola displays a remarkable strength of character and intellect as well as energy. Often asked how he manages his naturally crowded schedule, the Minister would respond to the effect that he takes himself and any assignment he accepts seriously. Now, you can’t be focused without being serious and so l am closing by wishing my Boss many more years of focused service to our fatherland in sterling health. Happy Birthday BRF!

     

    • Mr Bello is Special Adviser, Communications to the Hon.Minister of Power, Works and Housing.

  • Nigeria constitution hasn’t vested NASS with powers to increase budget – Falana

    Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, said, yesterday, that a Federal High Court never ruled that the National Assembly, NASS, had powers to increase estimates of the Appropriation Act.

    His reaction came against the backdrop of claims by the House of Representatives that a Federal High Court had ruled that NASS had powers to increase or review upward budget estimates laid before it by the executive.

    But Falana said in a statement that no court ruled that the legislature could upwardly review the budget.
    He said: “Sometime in 2014, I had cause to challenge the extent of the oversight powers of the National Assembly to rewrite the Appropriation Bill or increase the budget estimates presented to it by the President.
    (See Suit No FHC/ABJ/CS/295/2014: Femi Falana v the president and three Ors).

    “In dismissing the case, the respected learned trial judge, the Honourable Justice G. O. Kolawole, questioned my locus standi to institute the action after he had described me as ‘a renowned human rights crusader’ and acknowledged my humble contributions to ‘the development of human rights jurisprudence in Nigeria’.

    “In justifying the dismissal of the suit, his lordship said the reliefs sought in the case qualified me to be described as a ‘meddlesome interloper’.

    “No doubt, the learned trial judge said the National Assembly is not a rubber stamp parliament. The incontestable statement has since been twisted to give the very erroneous impression that the power of the National Assembly to increase the budget has been judicially recognised.

    ‘’With respect, the summary of the decision of the court by the National Assembly is grossly misleading.

    “In the entire 22-page judgment, the learned trial judge never said the National Assembly has the power to increase any budget proposal submitted to it by the President.

    “On the contrary, the Federal High Court made it categorically clear that the National Assembly lacks the legislative powers to prepare ‘budget estimates’ for the President or ‘disregard the budget proposals laid before it and substitute it with its own estimates’.”

    “Even though I have taken the legal battle over the dismissal of the case to the Court of Appeal, I wish to state, without any fear of contradiction, that the learned trial judge concurred with my submission that the constitution has not vested the National Assembly with powers to increase the budget.”

    It would be recalled that the National Assembly and Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, had been at daggers drawn over claims by the minister that the lawmakers had tampered with his ministry’s budget estimates.

  • No half truth in allegation that NASS reduced budgets – Fashola tells NASS

    Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola has expressed deep concern over the recourse of the National Assembly’s Spokespersons to name calling over his observations on the 2017 Budget.

    Fashola who made the statement through his Special Adviser on Media, Mr Hakeem Bello, said he was worried that the National Assembly Spokespersons failed to address the fundamental points about development- hindering whimsical cuts in the allocations to several vital projects under the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing as well as other Ministries.

    Fashola had, in a recent interview while acknowledging that Legislators could contribute to budget making, disagreed with the practice where the legislative arm of Government unilaterally alters the Budget after putting members of the Executive through Budget Defence Sessions and Committee Hearings to the extent that some of the projects proposed would have become materially altered.

    While acknowledging the need for legislative input from the representatives of the people to bring forward their developmental aspirations before and during the Budget production process, the Minister had observed that it amounted to a waste of tax payers money and an unnecessary distortion of orderly planning and development for all sections of the country, for lawmakers to unilaterally insert items not under the Exclusive or Concurrent lists of the Constitution like boreholes and streetlights after putting Ministries , Departments and Agencies (MDAs) through the process of Budget Defence.

    Specifically with regards to the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, Fashola listed the Lagos- Ibadan Expressway, the Bodo- Bonny road, the Kano-Maiduguri road, the Second Niger Bridge and the long drawn Mambilla Hydropower Project among others as those that the National Assembly materially altered the allocations in favour of scores of boreholes and primary health care centres which were never discussed during the Ministerial Budget Defence before Parliament.

    In their responses both the spokespersons of the Senate and the House of Representatives accused the Minister of spreading “Half-Truths” and making “Fallacious “ statements because he (Fashola) should have known that they only interfered with projects that had concession agreements and private sector funding components.

    They also accused the Minister of wanting to hold on to such projects in order that he may continue to award contracts.

    However, while dismissing the allegations in the course of an official trip outside the country, Fashola said it was sad that the lawmakers would resort to name calling even without understanding the facts of what they were getting into. Taking the projects which the lawmakers chose to focus on one after the other, the Minister insisted that there is no subsisting concession agreement on the Lagos – Ibadan Expressway adding that what the Infrastructure Construction Regulatory Commission (ICRC) has is a financing agreement from a consortium of banks which is like a loan that still has to be paid back through budgetary provisions.

    There is no fallacy or half truth in the allegation that the budgets were reduced. The Spokespersons admitted this much and now sought to rationalize it by a concession or financing arrangement that has failed to build the road since 2006. The biggest momentum seen on the road was in 2016.

    In the case of the Second Niger Bridge where one of the Spokespersons alleged that the provision in 2016 budget was not spent and had to be returned, Fashola said that this displays very stark and worrisome gaps in knowledge of the Spokesperson about the budget process he was addressing.

    According to him, a budget is not cash. It is an approval of estimates of expenditure to be financed by cash from the Ministry of Finance.

    The Ministry of Finance has not yet released any cash for the Second Niger Bridge, so no money was returned.

    Three phases of Early Works of piling and foundation was approved and financed by the previous Government in the hope that a concession will finally be issued, which has not happened because concessionaires have not been able to raise finance.

    The continuation of Early Works IV could not start in May 2016 when the budget was passed because of high water level in the River Niger in the rainy season.

    The contract was only approved by the Federal Executive Council in the first quarter of 2017 and the contractor is awaiting payment.

    Dismissing the allegation that the Ministry under him was holding on to projects that could be funded through Public Private Partnerships (PPP) so that he could award contracts as a tissue of lies, the Minister said from Day One of his assumption of office, he made it clear publicly and privately that his priority would be to finish as many of the several hundreds of projects that his Ministry inherited which had not been funded for close to three years.

    According to Fashola, if the Spokesperson was in tune with the Public Procurement Law which the National Assembly passed, he would realize that the Minister has no unilateral power to award such contracts whose values are in Billions of Naira, adding that all the new projects presented to the Federal Executive Council for approval were either Federal roads requested by State Governments or those put in the Budget by the Legislators to service their constituencies.

    Fashola stated that the focus on contracts by the Spokesperson is probably a Freudian slip that reveals his mindset and interests; when indeed he should be focused on Developmental projects that strengthen the economy, which is the focus of the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan endorsed by the legislature.

    Also responding to the issues that the Budget for the Mambila Power Project was slashed because it contained a “ whooping N17 bn” for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), the Minister said there was indeed a mis-description of that particular Expenditure Head which could have happened during the classification of so many thousands of Budget heads in the Budget estimates.

    According to him, what was described as a Budget Head for EIA was actually the nation’s counterpart funding to the China- EXIM loan to fund the building of the Mambila Project , adding that this was brought to his attention only after it had been slashed and that if the intention was not to slash arbitrarily it should have been brought to his attention to explain. “At a joint meeting convened at the instance of the Budget Minister when I complained that the budget was slashed, the issue of EIA was brought to my attention and I explained what it was meant for,” Fashola said.

    On the issue of the N20 Billion provision in the Ministry’s Budget which the Spokesperson alleged that the Minister failed to give details of, Fashola said the Spokesperson is hiding behind a finger.

    The Minister explained that it was a very basic principle of good planning to make provision for unforeseen contingencies adding that in the 2016 Budget , a similar provision enabled the Ministry to respond to the failures of the Tamburawa Bridge in Sokoto, the Ijora Bridge in Lagos and the Gada Hudu Bridge in Koto Karfe along the Abuja – Lokoja Highway. Similarly, the Ministry was able to pay N1BN to the Contractor handling the Suleja to Minna road.

    The recent failures caused by flooding along Tegina-Mokwa-Jebba road and Tatabu in Niger State could not have been provided because they were not foreseen and there may be more. “ This is what good planning is about ,“ Fashola said.

    Noting that the Senate Spokesperson missed the point in the haste to cast aspersions on him because he was not at the meetings he was speaking about, Fashola said he would have expected a more sober approach to the matter. “ In any event, allegations of half truth is only a flawed response to the constitutional and developmental issues that have plagued Nigeria from 1999 about how to budget for the critical infrastructure in Nigeria. It shows the conflict between the Executive that wants to build big Federal Highways; Bridges ; Power Plants; Rail; and Dams on one hand and Parliament that wants to do small things like Bore holes , Health Centres , Street lights and supplying grinding machines ,” he said.

    According to the Minister, being an institutional and not a personal issue, it won’t be out of place to seek a resolution of the conflict at the Supreme Court in order to protect the country’s future, because it is a clear conflict about how best to serve the people.

    “ As long as Budgets planned to deliver life changing infrastructure are cut into small pieces, Nigeria will continue to have small projects that are not life changing , and big projects that have not been completed in 17 years . If a project would cost N15 Billion and the contractor gets only a fraction of that, then things won’t move. Success should be defined by how many projects an administration is able to complete or set on the path of irreversible completion and not how many poorly funded contracts are awarded,” he said.

  • Fashola’s claims on 2017 budget misleading – NASS

    The Senate on Saturday warned Minister of Works, Housing and Power, Mr Babatunde Fashola, to desist from spreading falsehood on the 2017 Budget with regards to projects under his ministry.

    It said that in passing the Appropriation Bill, the legislators worked and applied equity in provision for new and outstanding projects across the country.

    In a statement by its spokesperson, Sen. Sabi Abdullahi, in Abuja, the upper chamber said that Fashola did not give the public details about the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, which was on private finance initiative from beginning.

    It said that Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) and the Federal Executive Council, in 2013, approved the reconstruction, rehabilitation and expansion of the expressway on Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) basis, “using private finance initiative”.

    “The Federal Government provided about 30 per cent of the funding while the balance shall be provided by the private sector.

    “The project was on course for completion by end of 2017 when the private finance initiative was being implemented, with over 30 per cent completion rate attained as at early 2015.

    “But, in a blatant disregard for existing agreements, constituted authorities and extant laws, Fashola on assumption of office, got the government through the ministry to start voting money for the implementation of the project.

    “Even, as at last year, the 2016 Appropriation Act voted N40 billion for the project on the insistence of the ministry and only N26 billion was released.

    “If we had known, the rest N14 billion could have been allocated to other critical roads across the country,” it said.

    It added that due to concerns and in the spirit of consensus-building and effective stakeholder engagement, the leadership of the Senate met with relevant stakeholders, including the Ministries of Works, and Finance.

    According to it, it was agreed that we should give the Private Finance Initiative a chance to complement government’s resources in the delivery of critical infrastructure across the country.

    “Hence, in this year’s budget, we have engaged with the government and private sector groups, who have assured that they will resume funding of the project.

    “So, we only provided the fund in the budget that would ensure that work does not stop before the funds from the private sector start coming in.

    “It is our view that the Federal Government cannot fund the reconstruction and maintenance of all the 34, 000 kilometres of roads under its care,” the senate said.

    It explained that what was necessary was the need for private funds for some of the roads, particularly those with high potential of attracting private investors.

    It said, “With private sector finance initiative, the rehabilitation of the road can be completed on time because full funding will be provided and there will be more certainty.

    “The minister’s statement is in bad taste.”

    The statement said that the National Assembly acted in the national interest to ensure that equity and fairness were achieved in the distribution of projects.

    The senate said that it also ensured that all sections of the country had representation in the national budget as guaranteed by the Constitution.

    Similarly, the House of Representatives said that Fashola peddled “inaccuracies, misleading and calculated mischief” about the 2017 budget.

    In a news conference on Saturday in Abuja, Chairman of Committee on Media and Publicity, Rep. Abdulrazak Namdas, said that the minister’s statement tended to blackmail the National Assembly and set it on a collision with the executive.

    He said that the minister was fixated on matters of power rather than issues that would benefit Nigerians.

    According to Namdas, there was an obvious attempt to blackmail the National Assembly, paint it as an irresponsible institution, one not concerned with the welfare of the people.

    He said that because part of funds allocated to Second Niger Bridge in 2016 was returned at the end of the year, the national assembly reduced allocation to the project in the 2017 Budget by N5 billion.

    Namdas said that the deducted was applied to fund other projects in the South-East, and left N7 billion for the Second Niger Bridge.

    “The truth is that in the 2016 Budget, N12 billion was appropriated for the Second Niger Bridge but not a kobo was spent by the ministry. Not a kobo was spent and the money was returned.

    “The ministry could not provide the Committees of the National Assembly with evidence of an agreement on the Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) or a contract for the Second Niger Bridge,’’ he said.

    Namdas said that the legislature also queried an omnibus allocation of N20 billion in the ministry’s budget whose details were not provided by the minister.

    He explained that it would have been irresponsible of the lawmakers to appropriate funds that were not tied to specific projects, adding that for doing so, “we incurred the wrath of the ‘almighty minister’”.

    He reiterated that the national assembly had powers in Sections, 4, 59, 80 and 81 of the 1999 Constitution (Amended) to amend the budget estimates submitted by the executive.

    Namdas said that the decision to redistribute the projects proposed by the ministry was in order to ensure even spread of projects across geo-political zones, which the proposal of the executive failed to do.

  • Comments on 2017 Budget: Reps attack Fashola, says ‘your attempt to paint us irresponsible will not work’

    Comments on 2017 Budget: Reps attack Fashola, says ‘your attempt to paint us irresponsible will not work’

    The House of Representatives on Saturday attacked the with Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola over his utterances on the recently signed 2017 Appropriation Act.

    The House noted that the minister’s statement was capable of setting the Legislature against the Executive and also cause chaos in the already tensed atmosphere.

    The lawmaker, however, warned the minister to guard his utterances and stop painting the Parliament in a bad light over the 2017 budget.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the lower chamber is reacting after the Minister raised the alarm over the insertion of projects outside the purview of his ministry in the 2017 Appropriation Act by the National Assembly.

     

    The House in a statement issued by the Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Hon Abdulrazak Namdas disclosed that “we need to restate that the National Assembly leadership entered into certain understandings with the Executive arm on the 2017 Budget in good faith. It is a clear breach of these understandings for the Executive to make public statements calculated to undermine and distort them”.

    According to him, “Nigerians deserve a total concentration of all government officials, arms of government and MDA’s to grow the economy as we exit the recession. We in the House of Representatives are so passionately committed”.

    The House spokesman while clarifying some of the allegation raised by the minister, “Mr Fashola claimed that the National Assembly included many projects that were not agreed on during the Budget defence before the Committees; that the Budget Lagos-Ibadan Expressway was reduced from N31 billion to N10 billion; that 2nd Niger Bridge budget was reduced from N15b to N10bn(actually N12bn to N7bn); that about N3 billion or so was removed from Okene-Lokoja-Abuja Road; that the Budget for Mambila Power Project was also cut”.

    He, however, maintained that “it is very misleading and calculated mischief to simply say that N5 billion was taken

    from the Budget for 2nd Niger Bridge. The truth is that in the 2016 Budget, N12 billion was appropriated for the 2nd Niger Bridge and not a Kobo was spent by the Ministry. Not a Kobo. The money was returned. The Ministry could not provide the Committees of the National Assembly with evidence of an agreement on the Public Private Partnership (PPP) or a contract for the 2nd Niger Bridge.

    “The National Assembly, in its wisdom decided to fund other projects from the South East leaving N7 billion for the 2nd Niger Bridge that may yet be unspent. The projects include – N2.5 billion extra for Enugu/Onitsha Road, N1 billion more for 9th Mile/Nsukka/Makurdi Road; additional N500m for Oturkpa- Makurdi to take care of evacuation of agricultural produce up to Maiduguri; N1 billion more for Ikot Ekpene-Aba-Owerri Road etc. These are strategic Roads in the South-East and North Central parts of Nigeria that had inadequate allocations.

    “The National Assembly had to intervene to fund some other critical roads that were totally neglected in the Executive Budget proposal. Example is the Abuja- Kaduna – Zaria – Kano Road that had Zero allocation from the President’s proposal and no contract even in spite of due process certification. N5 billion was provided in the 2016 Budget. It was not utilised. In 2017 Budget, the National Assembly again provided N3 billion for this very critical road that connects many states and where incidents of kidnapping are rife because of bad roads, as we believe that all parts of Nigeria deserve attention or would the Minister also claim that this road has no design?”, the statement posited.

    On the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Hon Namdas claimed that “leadership meetings of both the Executive and Legislature were held where it was clarified that alternative funding exists for the Road through PPP arrangement and the concessionaires had enough money to fund the project. That informed the decision to move some funds to other areas of need and the Minister of Power, Works and Housing is fully aware of this but chose to ignore it. Why spend government money if there is a clear existing funding framework in place and so many ongoing road projects are unfunded?

    “On the Mambila Power Project, the Minister proposed a whopping N17 Billion for only Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). N17 Billion Naira! The National Assembly felt that N17 Billion for EIA was misplaced and patently unjustifiable! The Minister himself even wrote to the National Assembly to move some funds from this sub-heads to others!

    “On a general note, we need to remind the Honourable Minister that the Budget of the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing is NOT his PERSONAL BUDGET; it is part of the Budget of the Federation. The National Assembly and others are also stakeholders in this country, imbued with patriotism to fix Nigeria’s problems. There are certain matters which the National Assembly Committees discover during oversight activities that are corrected during the budget process. There are so many omissions which the National Assembly makes effort to correct on behalf of Nigerians. Even the Ministries also disown allocations contained in their budgets! Should the National Assembly keep quiet and moot and allow infractions patently exposed in the Executive proposals?

    “We think that the Constitution did not design the National Assembly as a “rubber stamp” as eloquently stated by His Excellency Rt Hon Yakubu Dogara, the Speaker, House of Representatives.

    “Also contained in the budget of the FMWP&H is an omnibus allocation of N20 Billion. The details were not provided by the Minister. The National Assembly would be irresponsible to appropriate funds that are not tied to specific projects. Mr Fashola pushed hard to have the lump sum of N20 billion approved for him without specifying which project it will be spent on. He wanted the details to be left only to him to decide at his discretion. The National Assembly refused to do this and incurred the wrath of the almighty Minister.

    “He claimed that the National Assembly cannot increase the 2017 Budget. He conveniently forgot that the MTEF had a $2 increase per Barrel that was not applied or part of the 2017 Appropriation Bill proposed by Mr President. How was this to be applied? If applied would that not amount to an increase? Did the Executive not propose new projects and increases in the budget figures of about N41.7 Billion after Mr President presented the Budget?

    “It is true that Fashola is a SAN, an eminent lawyer and former Governor, but does that warrant his repeated insults hauled at the National Assembly? He claims that certain matters are State or even Local Government matters. He mentions Primary Health Care as an example. If one may ask why has he not led the effort to abolish the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, a federal government agency? As a Senior Lawyer, he should be aware of what is called CONCURENT LIST, and the provisions of S.4(4)(a) and S.4(5) of the Constitution.

    “Mr Fashola should be told that his Ministry includes Housing and Urban Development that traditionally takes care of other small projects like water in Housing Estates and so on and should not be surprised if he sees such projects in his Ministry. Some of the projects are designed in furtherance of meeting the SDG goals. It is certainly disingenuous for him to pretend that some urban development projects found in his Ministry’s Budget were meant for Roads and Power!

    “We need to remind Mr Fashola that the National Assembly is a national institution made up of members from all geo-political zones, they represent all tendencies, interests and ethnic nationalities. It has a responsibility also to ensure balance in the distribution of Road Projects and other developmental facilities. It cannot watch our national patrimony unfairly skewed to one region or a few regions to the detriment of other states and geo-political zones. The proposal from Mr. President on the 2017 Budget of the Ministry of Works, Power and Housing did not pass this test! This partly informed the intervention of National Assembly so that every region can be carried along in project allocation”, the statement stated.

  • News Hour 22-06-2017 I TNGtv

  • NASS ‘smuggled’ boreholes, other strange items into 2017 budget – Fashola

    NASS ‘smuggled’ boreholes, other strange items into 2017 budget – Fashola

    The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola has raised alarm over the insertion of projects outside the purview of his ministry in the 2017 Appropriation Act by the National Assembly.

    Fashola, a senior advocate, said it was unfair to the Executive arm for the inclusion of such projects after public hearings on the budget and defence of the fiscal estimates by the ministries.

    “What I have in my budget now is primary healthcare centres, boreholes,’’ he said at an interactive session with editors on Thursday.

    “That was the meeting we had with the Acting President and that was the reason why the budget was not signed on time.

    “We were ask to complete those abandoned projects; the budget of Lagos-Ibadan Expressway was reduced by the National Assembly from N31 billion to N10 billion.

    “We are owing the contractors about N15 billion and they have written to us that they are going to shut down.

    “Also, the budget of the 2nd Niger bridge was reduced from N15 billion to N10 billion and about N3 billion or so was removed from the Okene-Lokoja-Abuja road budget.’’

    Fashola added: “Everybody is complaining about power supply but they also cut the budget for Manbila power project and the Bodo bridge that connects the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Station was also cut and all these were also discussed.

    “If after we have defended the budget and we had gone and the legislature unilaterally changed the budget, what is the purpose of deliberation?’’

    According to Fashola, it is unfair to Nigerians after public hearings were conducted with tax payers’ money and consultations with the lawmakers only for the budget to be altered, cut or padded.

    The minister said that apart from the 200 uncompleted roads he inherited from the previous administration, the lawmakers added100 roads.

    “These roads are not federal roads and some of them do not have designs, how do we award roads that were not designed irrespective of the power you have?

    “It is unconstitutional for the National Assembly (NASS) to legislate on state roads.

    “A budget is an estimation plan that set in motion what is to be spent, how much will be borrowed and how much will be collected.

    “The executive controls all the machinery for collecting taxes and other revenue with relevant data from the Ministries of Finance, Physical Planning and the Budget Office and others.

    “I am not saying that the legislature cannot contribute to the budget, but I hold the view that it cannot increase the budget because they do not collect the revenue with which to run or implement the budget,’’ Fashola was quoted as saying.

    Fashola, who held sway as Lagos State Governor between 2007 and 2015, however, said the National Assembly “might mean well and not do the right.’’

    He canvassed interdependence and collaboration among the three arms of government rather than independence to ensure a harmonious relationship.

    The minister said that without it, the country would not make progress and would be bogged down by the politics of total separation of power and what he called “power of example rather than example of power.’’

    “The society benefits more from the power of example and interdependence rather than the example (show) of power; it requires that we show good examples.’’

    On the concept of interdependence, Fashola said the President and the Vice-President could not swear themselves into office but by the judicial arm, while the president also proclaims the National Assembly without which it could not start business.

    In the same vein, he said the National Assembly confirms ministerial nominees and justices of the courts who are in turn sworn-in by the executive.

    He urged the intervention of the judicial arm of government to set the necessary parameters and set things right.

    Fashola, however, blamed the electorate for putting pressure on the lawmakers and expecting them to do what was outside their constitutional duties of law-making, representation and oversight.

    “There is need for mass orientation and enlightenment for Nigerians not to expect their elected representatives to provide roads, water, light and execute capital projects which is the function of the executive arm.’’

     

     

    NAN

  • Return all Lagos lands, buildings in your care, Ambode tells Fashola

    Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State on Tuesday asked his predecessor and Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, to use his office to ensure that the federal government releases all the disused and disputed assets to the state government.

    The governor noted that some of the properties were in a dilapidated and wasteful state.

    Ambode explained that such properties were needed to further develop the state and bring about a positive change in the lives of Lagosians.

    “They are no longer in use for the purpose the apex government acquired it”, Ambode said at the State House after receiving the report of the Special Committee on Federal Government Assets in Lagos State.

    The committee chaired by former Federal Commissioner for Works, Chief Femi Okunnu, comprised a human rights activist, Femi Falana, a Simmons Cooper partner, Mrs. Victoria Alonge and Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Lands Bureau, Olabode Agoro, among others.

    Ambode recalled that Fashola was a passionate advocate of the issue during his tenure as Governor, adding that now that he is a representative of Lagos State in the Federal Executive Council (FEC), he should use his office to return the assets.

    His words: “The report of the committee has come at a time when the state government is in dire need of space for development projects that would improve the socio-economic wellbeing of its residents in line with the socio-economic realities of present times.”

    “We hope this initiative will end the long standing dispute between the federal and state governments over the disused lands, buildings and disputed quarters in various parts of the state.

    “These assets are no longer in use for the purposes for which they were originally released to the federal government. We are hopeful this report will get favorable response from the federal government now that these assets are no longer in use for the purposes they were acquired.”

    After submitting the report, Okunnu expressed sadness over the current status of the Federal Secretariat in Lagos and other abandoned assets of the federal government in the state, noting that the assets be returned to the state government for effective and proper usage.

    He said the assets “are not only quarters, but the land on which these buildings are situated. We have tried to argue that the whole of Ikoyi with boundary at Lagos Canal standing between Ikoyi Island and Lagos Island.”

    Okunnu added that title to the whole of the Islands “is vested in the Government of Lagos State when Lagos became Crown Colony. Title to the whole of Ikoyi including Osborn Foreshore, Banana Island is vested in the government of Lagos State. We have other areas we have covered.

    “The state owned Festac Town. The title to the town is vested in the government of Lagos State. Federal Housing Authority (FHA) is the tenant of the Government of Lagos State indeed. Also, the title to the Trade Fair site is vested in Lagos State.

    “The government of Lagos State acquired the Land of the Trade Fair site. But the federal government gave a promise to pay the state compensation which was to be paid to the original owners of the land. That compensation was not paid,” Okunnu noted.

    He added that title to Satellite Town too “is vested in Lagos State. It is the federal government which should prove title to any land, which it claims to own in Lagos State. The land on which the International Trade Fair Complex was situated was acquired for the purpose of the trade fair, but the place had been turned into market.

    “Federal Secretariat gives me sadness because I built it when I was the Federal Commissioner for Works. The land upon which federal secretariat is situated is part of the Crown land, which is now state land.

    “The title to the Crown land is vested in Lagos State. But Brigadier Mobolaji Johnson agreed to release that land to the federal government when they wanted to build federal secretariat.

    “We hope that discussions between Lagos State Government and federal government on hand over of federal lands, state lands within Lagos and disuse or surplus lands which federal government, especially defence and prisons are still occupying in Lagos are resolved.

    “Large parcels of the land are now surplus to what is required under the land. We hope that discussions between Lagos State and federal governments will be held to settle this palaver once and for all.”

  • Fashola wants FG to extend ‘whistle-blowing’ policy to power sector

    Fashola wants FG to extend ‘whistle-blowing’ policy to power sector

    The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has called on the Federal Government to extend its ‘whistleblowing’ policy to the power sector to curb energy theft.

    Fashola made the appeal in Enugu at the 16th Power sector monthly meeting, sponsored by the Niger Delta Power Holding Company.

    He said that available statistics revealed huge energy theft by Nigerians, adding that the problem had become a big challenge for not just the power distribution companies, but consumers as well.

    According to him, if nothing is done, those who pay for energy consumption will continue to bear the overall cost.

    The minister said that statistics revealed that only six million households consumed energy in the country, adding “if this is correct, it means that some people steal energy in the country, while only a few pay.

    “The statistics cannot be correct and it is therefore necessary to extend whistleblowing to the power sector in order to expose those stealing our energy,” he said.

    Fashola said that when all households who used energy were not captured, the ones captured were bound to pay more tariffs.

    He called on Nigerians to be vigilant and report those who stole energy in their neighbourhood to law enforcement agencies.

    He said that government was not pleased with most power distribution companies, whom he said, were far from attaining the mandate given to them since the privatisation of the sector.

    The minister direct the distribution companies to call their staff to order, saying “they are giving their customers hard times through indiscriminate disconnections.

    He said that efforts to improve power supply across the country were on course, adding that more megawatts of electricity would be added to the national grid before the end of the year.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting ended with a communiqué urging members of the public to discharge their responsibilities of paying for energy costs.

    The communiqué also appealed to state government to appoint energy advisers to ensure understanding of the power sector, before formulating policies.

    It also reiterated that the Power Sector Recovery Programme was developed to address the importance of unity and common purpose in making significant impact in the sector.

    It stated that progress on incremental power was being made, and that the damaged transformers at Afam IV Power Station had been repaired and gas supply would start soon to provide additional 100mw of power.

    NAN reports that officials of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Council, representatives of power generating and distribution companies and the Transmission Company of Nigeria, as well as other stakeholders, were in attendance.

     

    NAN

  • We’ll add 340 megawatts to power grid before December – FG

    We’ll add 340 megawatts to power grid before December – FG

    The Federal Government has said it will further boost electricity supply in the country by adding 340 megawatts to the national grid before December.

    Babatunde Fashola, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing said this on Thursday during an inspection tour of Afam Power Plant in Oyibo local government area of Rivers as part of Federal Government Power Sector Recovery Programme.

    He said the 340 megawatts of electricity would be generated from Afam power plant alone while another 270 megawatts would be generated from same facility before end of 2018.

    According to him, the Afam facility has about 1,000 megawatts of installed capacity which has underperformed due to years of neglect by previous governments.

    “Afam 1 to 5 power plants is currently producing about 100 megawatts which is as a result of failure to maintain the facility over the years.

    “We are here to assess the progress of the work we have been doing in the last 17 to 18 months aimed to get the facility back to its optimum capacity.

    “The Afam 5 plant is currently being rehabilitated in collaboration with General Electric to restore 240 megawatts to the facility.

    “All the turbine and equipment needed for the project are already in the country while the only challenge we are facing is the access road, logistic and few other things that we came to assess.

    “We think that we will add 240 megawatts and another 100 megawatts before December with addition of 276 megawatts in 2018 from Afam power plant alone,” he said.

    Fashola said that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration inherited debt running into billions owed to companies which supplied gas to power plants in the country.

    He said the Federal Executive Council approved N701 billion in March with focus to settle the debts through a Power Payment Assurance Programme arrangement with gas companies.

    The minister said the federal government was discussing with Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to separate old debts under the power payment assurance programme initiative that would ensure availability of gas.

    “Now that there is a payment assurance programme we are assuring that every gas that would be supplied to Afam and others would be paid for.

    “General Electric has come in to invest in power while we equally want more investors because there is a lot of gas deposit to tap from,” he said.

    Fashola said that government had engaged the World Bank and other development partners aimed to successful implementation of the Power Sector Recovery Programme.

    He said that the dilapidated Bodo-Bonny road in Rivers was among several road projects that would soon be addressed as soon as budget was signed.