Earlier this week, the Senate Committee on the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) requested additional funding to finish the Greater Abuja Water Supply Project.
When he accompanied committee members on an oversight tour to certain projects undertaken by the Federal Capital Territory Administration, Sen. Tolu Odebiyi, the committee’s chairman, stated this.
Odebiyi claims that the water supply project is time-sensitive and is being funded by the China Nexim Bank with foreign cash.
“It is a time-sensitive project and if you look at the valuation of our exchange rate, I think the sooner and the better we finish this project and commit our own counterpart funding the better for this project.
“Otherwise, we may run a risk of non- completion due to funding. We will give the project the priority it needs,” he said.
The lawmaker while assuring the FCTA of the needed support, urged it to ensure it generated more revenue for timely completion of the water supply project.
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“We are going to put pressure on them to make sure that they bring in as much revenue as possible on their own part.
“The way Abuja is all the development cannot be done based on their own internal statutory funding so they need to generate more revenue in order for them to complete these projects,” he said.
The Minister of FCT, Malam Muhammad Bello, said the ministry was poised to complete all ongoing projects before the end of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in 2023.
“As we round off this administration, our effort is to round off as many projects as possible based on their privatisation and funds available.
“But with the support of the committee we are thinking of alternative sources of funding so that some of these critical projects that are time-bound will be completed in the stipulated period,” he said