CITY NEWS FCTA releases N57.6bn funds to contractors

The FCT Administration has disbursed N57.6 billion to major contractors for capital projects within the city centre and satellite towns in the territory from the last quarter of 2016 to the first quarter of 2017,

The FCT Director of Treasury, Isiaku Ismaila, disclosed this yesterday while briefing newsmen in Abuja in line with the preparation of the end of the administration’s 2nd tenure.

“Funds were disbursed to projects such as roads construction, city cleaning, sanitations, water projects, education and health. All these are very critical in seeing Abuja as a federal capital city,” he said.

He added that in the last quarter of 2016, about 627 indigenous contractors were paid the sum of N6.9 billion for those whose bills were N100 million and below as the payments were made in batches, while in the first quarter of 2017, 403 indigenous contractors were given less than N100 million amounting to N2.3 billion.

“We can all see that the number of liability is coming down, in fact, more than 50 per cent because there were some projects that were not mature as at the time we made payment in December so the minister said that every contractor within the monetary year who has been able to perform his service should be paid and so far we have only paid N3.3 billion to about 403 contractors.

He further said that the Abuja light rail project was also funded from the treasury within the quarter adding that residents in the FCT would soon begin to benefit from the railway projects. A man kidnapped along the Zuba-Kaduna road in Abuja on April 28 and later released last Sunday without paying ransom has appealed to the police for protection.

The man, Kolawole Olaiya, said his family was asked to pay N10 million ransoms and when the money wasn’t forth coming, he was thoroughly maltreated but later released.

According to him, on October 17, 2016 at about 4:05 p.m.in Lagos, he received a call from an unknown person ordering him to pay N50 million for the release of his two children, Gbolahan Ibrahim Olaiya (5 yrs) and Temidayo Fewaz Olaiya (3 yrs).

He said after several telephone conversations with the kidnappers, his children were released and abandoned at Iwo in Osun State, adding that his life and that of his family is in danger.

“I appeal for protection from the Nigeria Police and other security agencies as we live in fear,” he added.