Three months after vowing to complete the abandoned Millennium Tower project, FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike on Monday confessed to the National Assembly that he is overwhelmed by the outrageous fresh contract sum submitted to him for its completion.
The minister, therefore, said he has decided to hand off the project as he has other critical life-impacting projects he wants to deliver to FCT residents.
Wike stated this when he appeared before the Senate and House Committees on FCT to defend the proposed N1.15 trillion 2024 statutory budget. He said he was disappointed when the Millennium Tower project, awarded in 2005 for an initial sum of N50 billion, was reviewed to over N200 billion.
He explained that the earlier assurance he gave the committees, three months ago, for the completion of the project in the next two years was premised on the initial reviewed contract sum of N100 billion that was submitted to him when he met with the contractors handling the project in August 2023.
To his utmost dismay, however, the contractors returned to his office weeks later to re-submit a fresh contract review which amounted to over N200 billion, noting that the initial N100 billion reviews submitted to the minister was carried out three years ago.
To this end, the minister said he has decided to follow in the steps of his predecessors who looked the other way and left the project unattended.
This means that the hopes of residents who are looking forward to the completion of the multi-purpose entertainment and business facility have been dashed.
Uncompleted Abuja Millennium Tower (Incide Engineering)
Breaking down the N1.15 trillion budget to the committees, Wike explained that N421.44 billion was earmarked as recurrent expenditure, representing 36.7 percent, while N726.3 billion was set aside for capital expenditure, representing 63.3 percent.
He added that the proposed capital expenditure would be dedicated to the development of infrastructure with an emphasis on the completion of ongoing projects.
Nyesom Wike, FCT Minister
"Some of the critical projects to be executed by the FCT Administration in the 2024 statutory budget proposal are the completion of Roads B6 and B12 and the construction of access roads and car park for Abuja Light Rail.
"Full scope development of Arterial Road N20 from Northern Parkway to Outer Northern Expressway (ONEX), provision of engineering infrastructure to Guzape, and provision of engineering infrastructure to Wuye District.
"There is also the extension of Inner Southern Expressway (ISEX) from Southern Parkway (S8/S9) to Ring Road II (RRII), full scope development of FCT Highway 105 (Kuje Road) from Airport Expressway to OSEX with Spur at Kyami District,
"Construction of Northern Parkway from Ring Road II to Ring Road III (6.2 km), full scope development of N5 and N20, and provision of engineering district infrastructure to Asokoro Island Layout in the FCT.
"The sum of N198.5 billion is earmarked for the above eight major roads to speed up their completion before the end of the 2024 fiscal year.
"The expansion and rehabilitation of these roads will eventually reduce the travel time and traffic gridlock on our roads within and outside the city," he said.
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