Customs Get Approval To Spend N623.7m On Computers
The Federal Executive Council on Wednesday approved N623.7m for the Nigeria Customs Service to buy computers for its zonal and area commands.
The council also approved N2.92bn for the construction of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Parks Scheme at Odukpani in Cross River State.
The contract was awarded to Messrs Kinetic Electro-Mechanical Limited, according to the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr Timipre Sylva, who sought the approval of FEC for the project.
It is meant to provide additional infrastructure for the manufacturing of oil and gas components for the sector.
It is also to “boost capacity in the oil and gas sector; provide job opportunities for Nigerians and boost economic activities in the Odukpani area of Cross River state.”
FEC also approved $454,050 for sea-time training for the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme.
The training is for cadets onboard foreign-going vessels by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency.
The consultancy contract was awarded to Messrs SWETS Marine Consultancy and target at preparing “1,000 idling Nigerian seafarers that have graduated but have yet to obtain requisite certificate of competency required of them, so as to be gainfully employed as officers and masters on board ships.”
In the 2019 budget, N1.38bn was approved for the project, while in the 2020 budget, it received another N1.008bn.
It was the second virtual FEC meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, amid the raging COVID-19 pandemic.
Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo; Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr Boss Mustapha; Chief of Staff to the President, Prof Ibrahim Gambari; the National Security Adviser, Maj. Gen Babagana Monguno (retd.), joined Buhari for the meeting at the Presidential Villa.
Ministers with memos to present to the session physically attended at the Villa, while others linked up from their various locations.
Speaking with State House correspondents after the meeting rose, the Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, gave details of other contracts approved on Wednesday.
Mohammed disclosed that 1,200 units of computers/printers would be bought for the Customs.
He stated, “The Minister of Finance (Mrs Zainab Ahmed) presented a memo for the award of contract for 1,200 units of colour printers and desktop computers for human resources and accounting management systems across zones and area commands of the Nigeria Custom Service, which was approved.
“The sum of the contract was N623, 700, 000 for the 1, 200 desktops and computers for the use of the Customs service all over the country.”
The Oseakwa Bridge in Anambra State also received contract augmentation approval of N118.06m. The contract had been awarded originally for N896.86m.
“It’s a-90m long bridge with a 2km approach road and a completion period of 12 months,” Mohammed said.
The new approval brought the total contract sum to N1.01bn.
He explained that work on the project reached 87.91 per cent completion in 2012 before it was stalled due to flooding.
Another sum of N610m was approved for the Plateau State University, Bokkos, to build a Faculty of Health Services, while the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, Zaria, got approval of N101m for the provision of a flight simulator building.
