The Nigerian Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) is planning to spend additional N7.5 billion (US$43 million) to expand and rehabilitate airport and Kubwa-Zuba roads .
The proposal is contained in the 2014 budget recently submitted to the National Assembly by President Goodluck Jonathan, through Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
The rehabilitation and roads expansion are among the FCTA’s new projects for the 2014 fiscal year. The Kubwa-Zuba road, also known as the Outer Northern Expressway (ONEX) Lot II and Outer Northern Expressway (ONEX) Lot I are 19.5KM each.
According to the 2014 budget proposal, the rehabilitation and expansion of the lot I of the Airport Expressway (CH 11+500 to CH 25+500) will gulp N2 billion(US$9.1 million)while lot II of the same road (CH 25+500 to 38+000) will be expanded and rehabilitated with N1.7 billion (US$4.6 million).Further details of the budget show that N2 billion will be spent on the rehabilitation and expansion of the Lot I of the Outer Northern Expressway (ONEX) and another N1.8 billion (US$4.62 million) on the Lot II.
The contracts for the two roads were awarded in 2009 for N257 billion (US$1.1 billion) by the FCTA and the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) during the administration of the Late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua.
The Senate Committee on Federal Capital Territory (FCT), headed by Senator Smart Adeyemi, had on February 1, 2012 revealed that the contracts for the construction of the two roads were inflated to the tune of N38 billion (US$ 174 million). FCT Minister Bala Mohammed, however, told the committee that the two road projects had been reversed by President Goodluck Jonathan, following the discovery of the inflation.
