Federal Executive Council resolutions for Wednesday 24TH July, 2013.

[FMINigeria]

While briefing reporters after the Federal Executive Council meeting, Maku said that prior to the commencement of the meeting, the Principal Secretary to the President presented the Nigerian athletes that won the 4×400 Meters Men Relay at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games to Council. He disclosed that Nigeria's Silver Medal in the event was later reviewed and upgraded to Gold Medal by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), following the disqualification of the United States' team that initially won the Gold Medals for doping infraction.

Maku said that the President, in his remarks stated that he was delighted to receive Nigeria's medal awardees on behalf of the Nigerian people and congratulated the athletes for bringing honour to the country, adding that what he missed in the year 2000 had now been achieved. He advised sports men and women to always strive to work hard, uphold integrity and stick to the rules of the game, pointing out that although the victory was very much delayed, it was better late than never and stressed the need for honesty in the conduct of business, politics and sports. He also stated that the victory was a testimony to the fact that there was no short-cut to enduring success, fame and wealth, adding that mal-practice in any form was evil, and that every society must be built on honesty, integrity and hard-work.

That the President commended the International Olympic Committee, for upholding the tenets of a drug-free sports and the former Minister of Sports, Damishi Sango, for his commitment in ensuring that justice prevailed. He reviewed the various efforts that Government had embarked upon to support sports and urged the NSC to collaborate with all stakeholders for the development of sports in the country as a unifying tool. He, therafter, announced the Federal Government's gift of five million Naira to each Gold Medallist and seven million Naira each for the two officials, adding that they would all be conferred with national honour awards in due course.

The Information Minister said after the adoption of the previous conclusions, the Minister of Federal Capital Territory tabled a memo to seek Council's approval for the provision of roads and engineering infrastructure to new layout and diplomatic area as Phase II contract of the ongoing Guzape Lot II District Infrastructure.

He said the areas were laid out and allocated in 2005 to meet the aspirations of members of the National Assembly, well placed Nigerians, Diplomatic Missions and some members of the general public.

According to the Information Minister, the projected employment generation opportunity that would emanate from construction activities following the implementation of the project was expected to be in the neighbourhood of 660 employees.

After deliberations and consideration, Council approved the provision of roads and engineering infrastructure to New Layout and Diplomatic Area as Phase II contract of the ongoing Guzape Lot II District Infrastructure, in favour of Messrs Gilmor Engineering (Nigeria) Limited, in the sum of N22,609,597,253.04, with a completion period of 30 months.

Maku said the Minister of Power brought a memo to seek Council's approval for the provision of Legal Advisory Services to Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET).

The National Electric Power Policy, 2001 and Electric Power Sector Reform Act, (EPSRA), 2005 both stipulated that there would be a "trading licensee holding a bulk purchase and resale license."

After consideration, council approved the retroactive award of the contract for the provision of legal advisory services to NBET Plc., in favour of a Legal Consortium of Messrs G. Elias & Co. and Hunton & Williams LLP, in the sum of USD1, 500,000.00 only for the provision of Legal Advisory Services and the reimbursable cost for the second instance over a period of 14 months plus N21, 870,000.00 only for the provision of Legal Advisory Services for the first instance over a period of 6 weeks.

Maku also said that the Minister of Transport brought a memo to seek Council's approval for revised estimated total cost for the consultancy services for rehabilitation of Nigerian Railway Track Network and Signaling.

The Council had initially approved the contract for Consultancy Services for the Resident Supervision of the Rehabilitation of Nigerian Railway Track Network and Signaling. Due to the extended construction periods of the projects, council approved revised cost which included taxes representing an augmentation from the original consultancy fee.

Messrs Roughton International Limited had requested for a further variation in the sum of £2,919,056.00 (exclusive of all taxes) due to the variation in the scope of works and additional extension of the Construction time in line with the Consultancy Agreement Clause 51.1 of the Special Conditions of Contract.

The project would create job opportunities for 99 Nigerian professional and non-professional staff during its execution.

After deliberations, council approved the Revised Estimated Total Cost (RETC) No. 2 of £7,723,794.13 only, inclusive of all taxes for the Consultancy Services for the Rehabilitation of Nigerian Railway Track Network and Signaling representing an augmentation of £2,107,958.00 from the Revised Estimated Total Cost (RETC) No.1 of £5,615,836.13, in favour of Messrs Roughton International Limited, with an extended completion period of 18 months.

Maku said that through another memo, the Transport Minister sought council's approval for the revised estimated total cost for the rehabilitation of railway track network contract 1-Western Line (Lagos-Jebba) to include additional rehabilitation of sidings, loop lines and level crossing from Lagos-Jebba-Kano and construction of new branch rail line link from km 896 of the existing narrow gauge rail line to the 215 mw Power Plant in Kudenda Estate, Kaduna.

The revised cost was as a result of additional works inclusive of all taxes.

The project would create job opportunities for 425 Nigerian professionals and 325 non-professionals during its execution.

After consideration, council approved the Revised Estimated Total Cost (RETC) of N16,961,414,797.44 inclusive of all taxes for the Rehabilitation of Railway Track Network – Western Line (Lagos-Jebba) to include the Rehabilitation of Sidings, Looplines and Level Crossings from Lagos-Kano and the Construction of New Branch Rail Line Link from Km 896 of the existing Narrow Gauge Rail Line to the 215 MW Power Plant at Kudenda, Kaduna representing an augmentation of N4,668,024,797.44 on the existing contract sum of N12,293,390,000.00 in favour of Messrs CCECC (Nigeria) Limited, with a completion period of 10 months.

Maku further said that through yet another memo the Minister of Transport sought council's approval for the revised estimated total cost for the extension of signaling and communication solutions for the Eastern Line, Port Harcourt-Aba-Umuahia-Enugu-Makurdi-Bauchi-Maiduguri to the Western Line, Lagos-Ibadan-Jebba-Ilorin-Minna-Kaduna-Kano, including 2 Branch Lines (Kano-Nguru and Zaria-Kaura Namoda).

An assessment carried out on 11th January, 2013 by the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) identified the compelling need to urgently upgrade the Western Line Mechanical Signaling system to the Modern Signaling system as presently being provided on the Eastern Line contract, to ensure the safety of train operations, enable quick train turn around and enable all trains to be controlled at various designated control centers and monitored at remote viewing centers.

The exercise also identified the need to commence a procurement process for the Western Line Signaling upgrade and adopting the same system for the Eastern Line Signaling Contract being installed Messrs Ansaldo/Gear Group/A3 & O Ltd in order to minimize the project cost, fast track project implementation and ensure compatibility and standardization with existing system.

The project would create job opportunities for 603 Nigerian professionals and non-professional during its execution.

After deliberations, Council approved the Revised Estimated Total Cost (RETC) for the Extension of the Modern Signaling and Communication Solutions for the Narrow Gauge Network on the Eastern Line (Port Harcourt-Aba-Umuahia-Enugu-Makurdi-Bauchi-Maiduguri) to the Western Line: Lagos-Ibadan-Jebba-Ilorin-Minna-Kaduna-Kano Line including Two Branch Lines (Kano-Nguru and Zaria-Kaura Namoda), in favour of Messrs Ansaldo South Africa/Gear Holding/A3 & O Limited, in the sum of N10,375,064,289.25, inclusive of all taxes, representing the augmentation of N4,758,604,853.03 from the original contract sum of N5,616,459,436.22, with a completion period of 14 months.

Maku said the Minister of Labour and Productivity brought a note to apprise council of the submission of the instrument of ratification of the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) 2006 by Nigeria on the 18th June, 2013 to the Director General, International Labour Organisation (ILO) Geneva, Switzerland.

The Minister of Labour and Productivity led a tripartite delegation of Social partners to register and deposit the instrument of ratification of the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC).

Nigeria has become the 38th member state of the ILO and the 5th African country to ratify the Convention.

Maku further told reporters that the Minister of Labour and Productivity brought another note to apprise Council of Nigeria's participation in the 102nd Session of the International Labour Conference of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) held in Geneva, Switzerland, from 5th to 20th June, 2013.

He said a presentation was made from some of the achievements recorded by the Nigerian Government with regards to employment generation, labour productivity and labour inspection towards ensuring sustainable growth and development of the economy as encapsulated in the Transformation Agenda of the President and actualization of Vision: 20:2020.

The Minister said Mr. Daniel Neburagho of Nigeria, a Deputy Director of Labour, Ministry of Labour and Productivity, was appointed the Director of ARLAC; and that Nigeria was elected as a member of the Executive Office representing the West Africa Sub-Region at ARLAC for the period of June, 2013 to June 2015.

The Minister of Science and Technology brought a note to apprise Council of the outcome of the Regional Meeting of the Economic Social Council (ECOSOC) with the theme "Innovation as Enabler for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development", held on 14th March, 2013 at Dar es Salam, Tanzania. The ECOSOC Regional Meeting was in preparation for the forthcoming ECOSOC Annual Ministerial Review in Geneva, July 2013.

Nigeria had been invited to make a National Voluntary Presentation on the stated theme which falls under the purview of the Ministry.

Through another note, the Minister of Science and Technology apprised council of the outcome of Nigeria's participation at the 7th German-African Energy Forum held in Hamburg, Germany from 7th to 10th April, 2013.

During the Conference, the Nigerian Minister of Science and Technology made a presentation on Nigerian Silicon Valley Project domiciled at SHEDA Science and Technology Complex (SHEESTCO), Abuja. The project would provide the opportunity for Photovoltaic (PV) panels manufacturing in Nigeria.

Germany Organisation for Technical Cooperation (GTZ) pledged to leverage Research and Development (R&D) and capacity building in renewable technologies for Nigeria.

The Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development informed council that the UN International Telecommunication Union (ITU) had on 22nd July 2013, formally honoured the First Lady, Mrs. Dame Patience Jonathan, with an appointment as the ITU's Child Online Protection Champion. She disclosed that the Secretary-General of the ITU, Hamadoun Toure, stated that the First Lady had demonstrated tremendous interest in the activities of children and young people, adding that under her guidance, the Nigerian Government was working assiduously to ensure a safer online environment for children.

Maku said the President informed Council that the Minister of State for Health had voluntarily resigned his appointment as a Minister of the Federal Republic to enable him join the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation as a Senior Adviser and a Professor at the Duke University Global Health Institute in the USA.

Council noted all the appraisals.

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