NASS LAUDS FCT MINISTER OVER IMPLEMENTATION OF INFRASTRUCTURAL PROJECTS
(L-R) Chairman, Senate Committee on the FCT, Senator Smart Adeyemi with the FCT Minister, Mallam Muhammad Musa Bello, during the FCTA Budget presentation at the National Assembly Thursday
By: Ben Ukeji, Prudence Okonna, and Shekwonya Sunday
The National Assembly has commended the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mallam Muhammad Musa Bello, over the implementation of critical infrastructural projects by his Administration in the nation’s capital, Abuja.
The Senate Committee Chairman on FCT, Senator Smart Adeyemi, made this commendation during the presentation of the 2022 FCT Statutory Budget to the Joint Committees of NASS on FCT, Thursday at the National Assembly Complex, Three-Arm Zone, Abuja.
In a statement signed by the Director, Information and Communication, Muhammad Hazat Sule, Adeyemi said the number of the multi-billion-Naira infrastructural projects being executed by the FCT Administration under the leadership of the current Minister is unparalleled.
He said, both the Committee of Senate and House of Representatives on the FCT are impressed by the number of ongoing projects being completed by the FCT Administration.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on FCT said that the FCT Administration did not fall into the temptation of abandoning projects initiated by previous Administrations, a gesture he described as remarkable.
According to him, other Ministers would have jettisoned important projects for the sake of ego or partisan interests to embark on white elephant projects.
He, therefore, urged the Minister to ensure that infrastructures are provided in key Districts of the territory to cope with the rapid population growth in Abuja.
Speaking at the occasion, the FCT Minister, Mallam Muhammad Musa Bello said the FCT Administration has proposed the sum of N607,952,023,580.00 for the 2022 Statutory Budget estimate. This will enable the Administration complete ongoing critical projects and provision of state-of-art equipment to aid security Agencies in discharging their statutory duties.
He said that out of the total sum, N393,182,2067,614 representing 64.67 percent is for capital expenditure; N76,569,904,856 representing 12.59 percent is for the personnel cost; while the sum of N138,199,851,110 representing 22.73 percent is being spent as an overhead cost.
The Minister stated that most of the projects embarked upon by the government, which the Administration intends to complete before the end of the tenure of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government would influence positively the socio-economic well-being of the residents of the Territory.
Some of the ongoing projects include the rehabilitation and expansion of the Outer Southern Expressway; the Expansion and Extension of the Inner Southern Expressway; and the construction of the Southern Parkway from Christian Center, B6, B12.
Others are Reconstruction and Dualization of the Lower Usuam Dam-Gurara road, provision of Engineering infrastructure to Maitama II District, provision of rolling stock and provision of other phases of the Abuja Light Rail project, as well as the construction of Southern Expressway to Kuje Road (S105) respectively.
According to the Minister, the FCT Administration has allocated the sum of N175.5 billion to the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) for the provision of infrastructure; N73.8 billion for the Transportation sector; while Education takes N52.4 billion.
Other sectors include Health with a total sum of N36 billion; Environmental takes N12.9, while Water and Agriculture sectors go home with N9.6 billion and N8.9 billion respectively.
