Nigerian govt approves $984.7m for NRC equipment

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday approved the sum of $984.7 million for the procurement of maintenance equipment for the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC).

The council also approved the release of N5 billion for the provision of accommodation to the staff of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

The Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Sambo, confirmed this to State House correspondents at the end of the FEC meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja.

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, was also at the briefing.

Sambo said the NRC equipments are specifically meant for the Kano-Maradi rail line connecting Nigeria and the neighbouring Niger Republic.

He said: “The contract was awarded to a company that is also the contractor handling the railway project in the sum of $984,722,302.05 inclusive of 7.5 percent VAT with a completion period of four years. “

The minister also disclosed that the council approved another N510 million for the supply of customised Fire Service vehicles for the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).

Sambo added: “The Federal Ministry of Transportation also presented a memo to the council on behalf of two of its agencies.

“The first agency was the Nigerian Ports Authority which sought to provide for the award of contract for the construction.

“The Council also approved the supply of four customised Fire Service search and rescue vans for extrication of accident victims for Rivers Ports, Port Harcourt, Lagos Port Complex, Tin Can Island Port, and Marina Headquarters all in Lagos.

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“The Council also considered the memorandum and approved the award of the contract as recommended and reviewed by the Bureau of Public Procurement in the sum of N510, 934,600 million inclusive of 7.5 per cent VAT with a completion period of nine months.”

On his part, Malami said the council approved the sum of N5 billion for the construction of residential accommodation for officers and men of the NDLEA.

He added that the contract would further secure the lives and property of the agency’s personnel.

“As you are aware, there has been renewed and sustained onslaught by the NDLEA against drug cartels and barons. Within the three quarters of 2023, about 18,940 arrests were affected by the NDLEA, and indeed drugs worth an estimated value of over N40 billion were confiscated.

“The successes that were recorded unfortunately translated to unprecedented threats and attacks on personnel; the officers, men and other ranks of the agency.

”Thus, the need has arisen for the Nigerian government to consider the possibility of taking security measures that will now provide the desired protection to officers and men of the NDLEA,” the AGF stated.

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