NEWS FG saves N53bn on water project contracts
The Federal Government has saved N53 billion on the review of water project contracts, the Minister of Water Resources, Engr. Suleiman Adamu said.
He made the revelation yesterday while presenting a five year compendium on water resources development in Nigeria, from 2015 to November 2020 in Abuja.
Adamu said in 2016, the ministry did a technical audit and prioritized all the 116 uncompleted and abandoned projects. After the audit, the ministry reviewed the cost. “The stringent processes enabled us to achieve substantial reduction on the request for contract review on 26 major projects thereby saving about N53bn on the costs of the contracts, even before review by the Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP).”
The minister said this achievement is significant as it showcases prudent management of resources, and high levels of transparency and accountability.
So far, 30 projects have been completed and 10 commissioned while more will be commissioned, the minister noted.
He also said from the over 200 dams, the government improved a number of them to boost irrigation, water supply and hydropower, thereby creating 20,400 direct and 16,000 indirect jobs.
Across the 12 River Basin Development Authorities (RBDAs) under the ministry, it initiated several programmes that has trained 8,617 youths, commercializing 42 small dams; leasing of 253 farmlands to the private sector for commercial farming with 181 fully utilized, and the creation of 213,998 direct and indirect jobs.
The ministry said 2,195 participants were also trained in various courses to enhance service delivery since 2016.