By Abdulrahman Abdullahi
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the change of scope for the construction of Abuja-Kaduna-Kano highway, Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, said on Wednesday.
The minister said this while briefing State House correspondents at the end of the weekly FEC meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.He said the road, hitherto undergoing renovation, would now be completely reconstructed, changing the existing cost of the project from N155 billion to N797.2 billion.“I presented on behalf of the Ministry of Works and Housing, one memorandum and one report. The memo was with respect to the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano highway, which was to change the scope of works from rehabilitation previously awarded because many parts of the pavement had deteriorated, to full reconstruction of two lanes on both sides.
“The council considered and approved the request for that change of scope and the incidental cost consequence; changing the existing contract for N155 billion to 797.236 billion to provide for full reconstruction of the main carriage way, trailer parks, way bridges, toll stations and additional side lanes in the built-up areas across the FCT, Niger Kaduna and Kano States, which are all served by the road and this was approved by council for the same contractor,” he said.
He said government would soon hand-over completed road projects across the country including Benin-Asaba, Abuja-Lokoja, Kano-Katsina, Onitsha-Aba, Sagamu-Benin, Kano-Maiduguri, Enugu- Port Harcourt, Ilorin-Jebba and Lagos-Badagary.
