The Federal Government on Wednesday approved N65.2 billion for the construction of the four sections of the Lokoja-Okene-Benin Road.
The Minister of Works, Mr Mike Onolememen, made this known while briefing State House correspondents after the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.
The meeting was presided over by Vice President Namadi Sambo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Onolememen said the four sections of the road are; Lokoja-Okene, Okene-Auchi, Auchi-Ehor? and Ehor-Benin City and each section would gulp N11.6 billion.
He said that approval was given by the council for the augmentation of the project cost of the Kano-Maiduguri expressway, which was awarded in 2006, from N172 billion to N285 billion.
He noted that the rehabilitation of the section two of the Calabar-Ugep-Ogoja-Katsina-Ala Road, was also augmented.
The minister said that four contracts for the construction of federal roads and bridges in Taraba, Niger and Kano states were also approved.
Also briefing the correspondents, the Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku, said the council approved N13.9 billion for the execution of some projects at Yenagoa International Airport.
He said the projects were the construction of an International Terminal Building at the Airport, including Control Tower and Power House, with a completion period of 24 months.
According to him, the International Terminal Building is similar to the one earlier awarded for the construction of Port Harcourt International Airport.
“The approval of the International Terminal for Bayelsa followed a memorandum by the Aviation Minister, Princess Stella Oduah, toward achieving the goals of the Federal Government’s agenda in the aviation sector of the economy,” he added.
Maku said that as part of its efforts toward bringing the nation’s aviation industry to a world class level, the Federal Government had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Government of the Peoples Republic of China.
The MoU was for the construction of new International Terminal Buildings at the five international airports and the perishable cargo terminals at Abuja, Lagos, Kano, Port Harcourt, Enugu and Asaba airports.
The minister added that part of the funds for the projects would be provided by the government of China.
He said the council also approved the establishment of a Council on Niger Delta for the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs.
Maku said the council would check duplication of roles and provide a forum for sharing ideas among agencies involved in policies, projects and programmes formulation and implementation in the region.
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