FG Approves $40m to Construct Nigeria-Cameroun Border Link Bridge

Tobi Soniyi in Abuja
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the contract for the construction of a Cameroun-Nigeria border link bridge at Ikot Efiem.

The Minister for Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, announced this yesterday after the conclusion of the Federal Executive Council meeting at which the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, presided.

He said the construction work would gulp $38 million ,while $1.9 million would be spent on consultancy service
The minister explained: “This was done under the African Development Bank procurement guidelines.

“We presented a memo to construct the Cameroun-Nigeria border link bridge at Ikot Efiem, under the African Development Bank support for improving relationship between Cameroun and Nigeria post the International Court of Justice
(ICJ) judgement over Bakassi.

“And council approved that bridge. It is part of the link road between the Enugu-Abakiliki Highway which is already completed and part of larger Lagos-Mumbasa Highway.”
He said the project would improve relationship between Cameroun and Nigeria after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) judgment over Bakassi.

Fashola also said the council approved N32bn for the resuscitation and completion
of the Kaduna Eastern bypass road.
According to him, the contract which was started in 2002, was initially planned to have been completed within three years; but 15 years after, it remained uncompleted.

He said: “The project was first awarded in 2002. It was N12 billion. We have had to get approval for N22 billion verbatim and so, that takes that project cost now to N32 billion.
“The contractor was paid N5.5 billion in 2002. If we had paid the contractor N11 billion then when exchange rate was N109, it would have fetched us $96 million. If you multiply $96 million today even at the official, rate of N305 to a dollar, is now N29 billion.”