Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has said that the Muhammadu Buhari administration will award contracts up till midnight of May 28.
Fashola said this in Akure, the Ondo state capital while flagging off the N90 billion dualisation of the 49km dilapidated Akure/Ado-Ekiti highway.
He said, ” People are asking why we are still awarding contracts when we have just a few days to go. Should we stop this road now and wait for the next government?
” It is a juvenile conversation. They forgot, among other things, that the term of this administration ends at midnight on May 28.
This road really represents the paradox of governance, about roads, and about public debts. This is the real story.
” The work looks easy from the outside, but one decision leads to other consequences. But we have now given you contractors who have worked with you.
“All kinds of stories have been told about me, but none of them bothers me.
“Many lies have been published that Fashola does not like Ekiti and Ondo States. That is absolute nonsense.
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“There were suggestions that we should asphalt and rehabilitate the road, and I said no, that we will dualize the road and we are going to reconstruct.
“Before we could do that, we had to first do the design, which took some time. But many were ignorant about this. It is not as easy as it looks.
Fashola who pointed out that infrastructural development could only be actualised through borrowing or taxation, said that the project, which would cost N90 billion, would be taken care of by NNPCL through the tax credit policy of the federal government.
According to him the project awarded to Samchase Nigeria Ltd. and Kopek Construction Company is slated for completion within the next 24 months.
Speaking on the procurement act, the Minister asked the 10th National Assembly to amend it, noting that the law was slowing down the country’s development.
“There is a law passed by the National Assembly called the Procurement Act; if you don’t follow it, they will call you a thief.”
