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Tag: Fashola

  • Fashola canvasses ‘appropriate resourcing’ of FRSC

    Fashola canvasses ‘appropriate resourcing’ of FRSC

    The Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, has canvassed “appropriate resourcing and equipping’’ of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to reduce carnage on the nation’s highways.

    Fashola said FRSC, the country’s lead traffic administration and safety management agency, was in need of more tools, equipment and financial resources to effectively cover the nation’s highways.

    He spoke at the opening session of a two-day capacity building workshop on the United Nations Road Safety Legal Instruments on Traffic Signs and Regulations on Tuesday in Abuja.

    “ The primary responsibility we have as a government is the protection of lives and property, and that does not start and end with policemen and all the other security apparatus.

    “It goes to healthcare, well being and response on our highways such that when accidents happen, as they sometimes will despite all our best efforts to stop them, we must be able to respond to save lives.

    “This is the case for resourcing the FRSC, and the resources will include vehicles, motorcycles, communication equipment, and mobile intensive care units, not just ambulances, where you have medical personnel on board, moving victims and stabilising them until they can get to more specialised centres.’’

    The minister said there was no reason why the agency should not have at least one rescue helicopter in each of the six geopolitical zones of the country, for a start.

    According to him, such investment is worthwhile even if it is just one Nigerian life that is saved by it.

    Fashola also stated that adequate resourcing of the FRSC was in line with the Federal Government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan.

    One of the pillars of the plan, he said, is investment in the Nigerian people, and must include investment that saves every life and gives everybody the opportunity to stay alive.

    He said he had been discussing with stakeholders including the Senate in this regard, and that they were favourably disposed to the idea.

    The minister differed with the notion that all Nigerian roads are bad, noting that there were good parts and bad parts caused by ageing, abuse and maintenance failure over the years.

    “I ask a question: how bad are our roads? Some people have said all the roads are bad, but that is not true. Have we interrogated what percentage the bad portions constitute of the total aggregate?

    “Recently, we did some surveys on roads like Otta-Abeokuta. That road is in a very unacceptable condition, but what portion of it is bad?

    “The study we undertook recently showed that on the length of 64km what is bad is about 18.5 per cent of the entire road network.

    “Do not misunderstand me, one centimeter of failure on any road is bad enough, but I think that if we don’t understand how bad the problem is, we cannot collectively approach it.

    “But those who argue that all of the roads are bad are not correct because 18 per cent of 64km, for example, does not support their argument,’’ he said.

    Read Also: FG to reintroduce toll gates in 38 points across Nigeria, says Fashola

  • FG to prosecute energy thieves soon – Fashola

    FG to prosecute energy thieves soon – Fashola

    The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola on Friday said the Federal Government would begin the prosecution of energy thieves soon.

    He said this would begin when the ministry concluded its ongoing audit to tackle problems of metering.

    Fashola stated these at an Interactive Session with members of 21 Civil Society Organisations and the media in Lagos.

    Some of the civil society groups included Centre for Democracy and Social Economic Rights, Alliance for Good Governance, Grassroot Democratic Initiative and Centre for Social Economic and Human Rights.

    He said some influential people in the country were not paying for power, adding that plans were on to prosecute them and drag them into the energy payment net.

    READ ALSO:  Why govt gave N701b loan to power sector

    The minister, however, said government would fix the problems facing the power sector before applying sanction on energy thieves.

    Fashola said the ministry while dealing with problems of the power sector privatisation had sought the help of the World Bank whose private sector arm does not lend money to government.

    The arm lends and provides guarantee to private companies only.

    He said the Distribution Companies (DisCos) and Generation Companies (GenCos) proposal did not fit into the World Bank project because they were home grown solutions to problem of power.

    He said the role of private sector in the power project was to help government carry out its functions better to boost the economy.

    NAN

  • Why govt gave N701b loan to power sector, by Fashola

    Why govt gave N701b loan to power sector, by Fashola

    The Federal Government has given reason for the N701 billion loan given to the power sector.

    The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, SAN, said the loan was given to save the sector from collapse  under heavy debts.

    The aim was to assist Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET) to meet its debt obligations to power generation companies (GenCos) and by extension the gas suppliers and the financing banks.

    Fashola in an exclusive interview with The Nation, explained why government took the decision it did. He said: “The N701 billion is not a loan to the privatised power sector. It is a loan by government to one of its own agencies – Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trading Plc (NBET).

    “When the power sector was privatised in 2013, one of the companies created was NBET to buy bulk power from the generation companies (GenCos) in order to create a market situation. NBET entered into power purchase agreement (PPA) with any GenCo that puts power into the national grid. NBET uses the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) to transport that power to the distribution companies to sell under another contract called “vesting contracts.” Go and do this retail business.

    “DisCos are supposed to make a profit of about 30 per cent, return the bulk money to NBET just like any retail business – you buy wholesale, retail and send the money back to the manufacturer. So there are two contracts here – a contract by NBET with the power producers, and a contract with DisCos to vend the power. The assumption was that NBET will pay from what it collects from the DisCos in order to discharge its contract with the GenCos. But some many things happened.

    “The economy tumbled and tariff increase was halted in court. There was a big gap in collection. So from collections of about 56-58 per cent dropped to about 25-29 per cent and NBET became a debtor to the GenCos. The GenCos, the thermal power plants that use gas, were owing their gas suppliers and their gas suppliers were owing their banks. In this situation, we said to the government “you are the debtor here because NBET is a 100 per cent government owned company.”

    “ Before the N701 billion, NBET had tried to raise a bond of N301 billion when parliament stopped it. That was why government got the N701 billion and said to NBET go and discharge your contract. The decision was taken for many reasons, one it was a contractual obligation and NBET is a 100 per cent government company, so you must pay. This is one of the liquidity issues in the sector, so if government defaults, there will be no power sector. Secondly, don’t let this debt spiral the gas and banking sectors, otherwise, it will spiral into the entire economy. Because it was critical, Federal Executive Council approved it because it is a no-go-area. That doesn’t mean you write-off the debts owed by the DisCos because they are two separate contracts.

  • Senate summons Fashola over $1b power project funds

    Senate summons Fashola over $1b power project funds

    THE Senate yesterday mandated its joint Committee on Power and Public Accounts to invite the Minister of Power, Works and Housing Babatunde Fashola to give a detailed account of the public funds spent on the Fast Power Projects, particularly Afam Fast Power Project.

    The upper chamber said Fashola should also give evidence of feasibility study indicating the viability of the projects and requisite appropriation by the National Assembly as required by the Constitution.

    It said the minister should also furnish the Senate with presidential approval for the projects

    It asked the committee to investigate the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority( NSIA), Nigerian Electricity Bulk Trading Company ( NBET) and others to establish the status of the balance of $350million from the $1 Eurobond issued by the Federal Government in 2013.

    The joint committee was given two week to report back to the Senate

    The resolution followed the adoption of a motion entitled: “Monumental fraud in the power sector”, sponsored Senator Dino Melaye (Kogi West).

    Melaye, in his lead debate, noted that sometime in July 2013, the Federal Government raised a total sum of $1 Billion through Eurobond issue.

    He said $350 million was taken by the Federal Government out of the proceeds of the July 2013 Eurobond issue and released to Nigeria Electricity Bulk Trading Company( NBET) Plc as shareholder contribution to shore up its capitalisation.

    The senator added that he is further aware that NBET is a Federal Government owned public liability company that deals in electricity trading and management of associated liabilities.

    Melaye noted that $350 million released to NBET was to demonstrate NBET’s preparedness to assume its role as a government-backed electricity bulk trader to provide market confidence in the privatised electricity market.

    He observed that the move by the Federal Government was intended to backstop NBET’S with new investors in the electricity market especially new generation companies and to provide assurance to them that NBET is a credit worthy off-taker of power with the requisite capitalization to meet its payment obligations to both greenfield and brownfields power generating companies.

    He observed that as confidence-building measure, $350 million was domiciled with the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) for reinvestment in low risk investment and structured in a manner that NBET can call for funds at short notice when required.

    He expressed alarm that “there is now a desperate attempt by the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing to retrieve this fund ($350 million) and divert same to fund the so-called Fast Power Projects which the ministry has already spent $35 million of public funds not appropriated by the National Assembly.”

    Senator Gbenga Ashafa, in his contribution, said for the Senate to do a thorough job, those mentioned in the motion should be given opportunity to say their own side of the story.

    He noted that some of the allegations raised in the motion were grave and should not be taken without hearing from those involved.

  • Fashola denies Melaye’s $385 million squandering allegation

    Fashola denies Melaye’s $385 million squandering allegation

    The Minister of Power  Mr Babatunde Fashola has denied  allegations of fraud by senator representing Kogi west, Dino Melaye of the All Progress Congress against him and the Ministry of Power, Work and Housing.

    Melaye had alleged that the power ministry diverted $35 million to the Afam fast power project without the approval of the national assembly.

    He also said a sum of $350 million ‎raised from a $1 billion Eurobond was spent by the ministry in 2013

    But Fashola in a statement denied the allegation of financial impropriety, saying fact could have been easily verifiable by a simple letter from the senator to the Ministry.

    According to Fashola, the country must be careful about what it say and do with regards to investments and investors which is clearly needed in all sectors of developmental life, particularly in infrastructure and power.

    He said, “Before perception becomes reality, I feel compelled to make this Statement in response to allegations bordering on financial impropriety raised on the Floor of the Senate against the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, my Office as Minister, the staff of the Ministry and by extension my person.

    “The sum and substance of the allegations to which the Ministry will provide full, factual and detailed response when formally invited are that: An amount in the region of $350million being part of a $1billion Eurobond facility taken in 2013 has gone missing or has been diverted and that the Ministry, had procured a contract for Afam Fast Power and paid $26million or thereabout for it.

    “With all emphasis, I state that there is no factual basis for the allegations. The Ministry, my staff and I have done nothing wrong and we will collaborate fully with the Investigating Committee when called upon. For now, it suffices for members of the public to note that I wasn’t a Minister in 2013, and that when Government raises a Debt like the Eurobond, it is the Debt Management Office that manages the Debt and not the Ministry”.

    “The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) had on Monday, 6th November 2017 issued a Statement on the Front Page of The Nation Newspaper explaining that the money was not missing, stating also that the $350 million had been invested and that interest had even accrued on the money”.

    “If there was no ulterior motive for the allegation, this was enough reason for a reconsideration of the presentation of the Motion on the Floor of the Senate on the 8th of November 2017. But the story seemed to have changed from “missing money” last week, to a “desperate attempt to retrieve the money”, this week”.

    “As for the Afam Fast Power, the sum and substance of it is that it was an investment by the General Electric, a globally reputed Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), to invest in our country and support our effort to get good quick power under our Roadmap of Incremental, Steady and Uninterrupted power”.

    “They offered to do this by providing Nigeria with mobile turbines of 600MW if we could find a location with Gas and Transmission evacuation infrastructure. The Afam Power Station fitted because it had transmission and evacuation facilities but all its turbines had been virtually run down. The investment was contingent on paying $27,990,000 million which was 15% of 8 (eight) units of 30MW turbines each totaling 240MW valued at about $186,600,000:00 and this payment of $27.9m was made without breaching any law”.

    “At this moment, the turbines have arrived Nigeria and currently at the Onne Port. This is verifiable just as works are on going on the site – civil and engineering – preparing to receive the turbines , and install other equipment already at site.

    All of these are verifiable by all well meaning Nigerians who may want to undertake the inspection. We expect that the project will be commissioned soon enough to add 240MW to the Grid. This will be one of the fastest power projects when delivered, compared to inherited power projects before this Administration”.

    He also said investors do not require Parliamentary approval to invest in Nigeria.

    “Investors to the best of my knowledge do not require Parliamentary approval to invest in our Country. All of these facts could have been easily verifiable by a simple letter from the Senator to the Ministry without the furore and suggestions of wrong doing and malfeasance”.

    “Unverified allegations such as the ones under discussion constitute an imminent threat to our investment climate. For the avoidance of doubt, there has been no wrong doing whatsoever”.

  • NERC presents eligible customer regulation to Fashola

    NERC presents eligible customer regulation to Fashola

    •Minister urges speedy work on meter regulation 

    Minister of Power, Works and Housing Babatunde Fashola (SAN), has received  the regulations guiding Eligible Customer policy in the electricity sector, with an appeal to the public to take seriously the consultations and stakeholder notices issued from time to time by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

    After the presentation of the Eligible Customer Regulations 2017, to him by the NERC Vice Chairman,  Sanusi Garba, Fashola said such consultations were necessary as decisions taken thereafter would affect members of the public and consumers as well as stakeholders.

    Citing the Eligible Consumer Regulations, Fashola, who noted that the regulations came by consulting with as many people as possible, who will be affected by it and the declaration which he made, pointed out that while the DisCos would be affected in terms of potential revenue impact, consumers would be affected with regards to how they could possibly build distribution assets and how they would get compensated.

    “Members of the public must, therefore, understand that whether it is tariff setting, whether it is Eligible Customer declaration, NERC works, first by consultation, before it makes decisions so that all interests are carried as much as possible,” he said adding: “I want to use this opportunity to say that whenever consultation notices, stakeholder notices are issued by NERC, members of the public should take them seriously.”

    Describing the regulations as “a very important rule”, Fashola, who said it has been much awaited, added: “It will help us to improve the capacity for electricity distribution to consumers, who need them. Consumers, who are willing to make investments in providing distribution assets in a way that it then helps them to recover their costs and so on and so forth.

    “But I will like members of the public to know that the process of making these rules did not come by sitting in the office. It came by consulting with as many people as possible, who will be affected by the regulations and by the declaration that I have made; and I know that DisCos will be affected in terms of potential revenue impact and I believe that this has been taken care of in the regulation,” he said.

    The Minister, who also described the Eligible Customer Regulations as one of the steps in furtherance of the Power Sector Recovery Programme (PSRP), declared: “This will assist the distribution end when it becomes implementable, the metering programme when the regulations come, when approved, the settlement of DisCo debts, MDA debts and solving the liquidity problem,” adding that everything being done in response to the power value chain was a step to the furtherance of the PSRP.

    Commending the NERC management for its efforts in the production of the regulations, the Minister expressed delight at the presentation, promising to familiarise himself with the document and appealed to the Commission to upload the document on its website for the benefit of the public as well as share with the Ministry “so that all the agencies of government can help you to propagate and advertise this”.

    He, however, called on the Commission to speed up work on the regulation on meter, adding: “Much as we welcome this (Eligible Customer Regulation), I think the regulation that everybody is waiting for is the regulation on Meter. It will be a good thing if you can complete that before this month is over and let us see then how quickly that can stimulate licensing of meter suppliers.”

  • Electricity tariff: Senators to meet Fashola

    *Abaribe advocates zero-billing for vulnerable Nigerians

    Chairman, Senate Committee on Power, Steel Development and Metallurgy, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, yesterday said that his Committee has concluded plans to meet Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola to address concerns raised by power Distribution Companies (DISCOS), over electricity pricing.

    Abaribe was said to have disclosed this during a tour of Power installations under the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHEDC), in Port Harcourt, noted that the committee was seeking to address the contentious issue of electricity tariff.

    The senator was said to have agreed that fluctuations in pricing was affecting the sector.

    Senator Abaribe, accompanied by six other senators on the visit, was said to have told officials of PHEDC that his Committee wanted to resolvethe question of differentials between the money payable to generation companies and other stakeholders by the Discos.

    According to him, all options will be placed on the table during the proposed meeting with the.Minister.

    He said :”We have had this discussion about pricing. We are taking it up with the Ministry of Works, Power and Housing. What we are looking for is a stable price. We do not want a system where things fluctuate. We will sit with them and look at all the variables.”

    The Senator also told the leadership of the PHEDC that they needed to work closely with the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) to tackle activities of vandals.

     

    The NSCDC, he said, is empowered by law to protect critical national infrastructure and prosecute vandals. He said the police is limited in the prosecution of vandals.

     

    He said: “The question about prosecution is key. There is a law passed by the National Assembly to empower the Civil Defence Corps. They have powers to prosecute people who engage in energy or cable theft. They have the power to do that. If you drag them to the police, the fines are less. With Civil Defence Corps, you get favourable judgments.”

     

    He said: “The job of the National Assembly is to legislate and help with laws that will make laws easier. This is one of the reasons we are going on oversight. The issue of right of way has come of age that we have to collaborate with state governments. It has to do with land use. I do not think state governments give the permission to people to build along power lines.

     

    “Because of the decay, people now do certain things and nobody gets fined. The laws are already there. It is the enforcement of these laws that is the problem. We need to work with state governments to implement these laws.

     

    “Part of your corporate social responsibility is to ensure that the people in places where you do business are part of your campaigns. These problems are peculiar to our system.

     

    “People now use transformer oil to fry akara and even cook. There are places in Nigeria where these things happen. We need to educate people on the dangers of these things. DISCOS need to carry out more awareness programmes to educate their people.

     

    “We must begin to differentiate between the rich and the poor. The most vulnerable in the society should not pay. There is a place in Brazil where poor people stay. We visited them. We discovered that the whole community was connected, but they were not paying. We should have that system here.”

     

    Acting Chief Executive of PHEDC, Engineer Kingsley. Achife was said to have in his speech told the committee that the Discos were faced with serious challenges.

     

    He said: “One of the biggest problems is electricity theft. Very highly connected individuals are involved. About 130 people are currently in custody over this theft. We are appealing to the Senate to make hostility against electricity staff a crime. Our staff have been kidnapped, shot at and killed in their course of doing their duties. We need the help of lawmakers to put an end to this.

     

    “Some communities reject metering here. Whenever our staff go there, they are either beaten up or chased out. This is a problem. In places where we have put metres, the communities have bypassed them and they do not pay their bills. This is a major challenge we are facing.”

     

     

     

     

     

  • Enugu-Onitsha road: Nwoye gets Fashola to order contractors back to site

    Enugu-Onitsha road: Nwoye gets Fashola to order contractors back to site

    All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Anambra State, Dr. Tony Nwoye, has expressed delight over the decision of the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing to move to the site of the abandoned Onitsha–Enugu Expressway.

    Speaking after a visit to the ministry in Abuja, Nwoye said it had ordered the contractor to resume work on the road, which had been abandoned for some time.

    “I have the assurance of the minister Babatunde Fashola (SAN) that the contractors would move to site within two days,” Nwoye was quoted as saying in a statement by his spokesman Nonso Madu.

    He added: “Even before I became the candidate of the APC, that road had been on my agenda. It was by God’s grace and with the assistance of my colleagues in the House of Representatives I was able to facilitate its inclusion in the 2017 budget of the Federal Government.

    “The importance of that road to the socio-economic well-being of the people of the Southeast cannot be overemphasised. It is my hope that once the road is completed that business and other socio-economic affairs that had been affected by its terrible conditions would be boosted.he statement noted that Dr. Nwoye met Fashola and made the demands because of the platform he had as APC candidate.”

    He said: “The minister received me because I was the central player who pushed the project into the 2017 budget and because I have an enhanced platform as a governorship candidate. For this, I am grateful to the people and to the minister.

    “This is also a demonstration to all those who have confidence in our political project that as governor I would be able to do more for our people.”

     

     

  • Power can’t be fixed without mining sector collaboration, says Fashola

    Power can’t be fixed without mining sector collaboration, says Fashola

    Power sector problems cannot be fixed without the collaborative efforts of the mining sector, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, has said.

    He stated this during the just-concluded 2nd Annual Nigeria Mining Week in Abuja. Fashola agreed that there was very little the power sector could achieve without mining. He said: “As the power sector rolls out transmission stations and installs transformers, all these are operational inputs of the mining industry.”

    ‘’If the Works ministry is constructing a road, clearly it is a joint effort of the mining sector. It is impossible to have coal power without coal mining,’’ he maintained.

    Fashola said it was a welcome development to pursue cleaner energy which is the best to happen to human civilisation today. According to him, we move from firewood to coal, to petroleum, to gas and now we are going to much more renewable energy.

    He noted that the pursuit of cleaner energy now has been heightened because of the need to reduce carbon emissions and the desire for more- efficient energy for improved wealth and industrialisation.

    He stated that the country’s energy mix compelled the power ministry to build energy security ‘’so that we are less dependent on any particular source of energy. Because we have the ability to produce energy from coal, as we do from solar, gas, from hydro, we are pursuing and supporting a private sector investment initiative, which has gained some momentum. They are now close to being licensed, close to s.”

    He said it was not unusual to hear that Power, Works and Housing got the lion share in the 2016 budget followed by transportation to build the rail, but argued that the money was not solely utilised by the power, works and housing.

    According to him, the money actually went to the miners because the works ministry ‘’cannot build any of the roads without granite, sand, laterite, cement, limestone, or without bitumen. These take the money.

    “The problem simply is that we cannot budget the money for solid minerals, so we budget it for power, works and housing, and Transportation, with a very clear mandate go and give it to the miners,” he maintained.

    Fashola, who revealed he was on a mission to tell the miners that the Federal Government had raised N100 billion for road construction, insisted the money would not stay long with the power, works and housing ministry. It would soon be passed on to the true owners, including those who own the quarry and the mining sites, he stated, and urged them to be ready for work because money was coming their way.

    He said  for almost a decade, the country had spent just about 15 per cent of what it earned on infrastructure, adding that a government that spends less on construction cannot create opportunities.

    Identifying reasons why the country was able to swim out of the recession, Fashola said the present administration had in the 2016 budget doubled this number, adding that at the end of the budget year which ended in May, 2017, the government had spent N1.2 trillion, the first time that amount of money was spent for a long time only on capital budget.

    “The numbers published by the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS) had clearly showed where the money ended up. The solid minerals had had nine consecutive negative quarter growth since 2014 but by the end of quarter two of  2017, it has come out of negative growth for the first time,” he said.

    In quarter one of 2017, limestone, granite, and sand constituted 90 per cent of the mining activities that took place in the mining industry. The other minerals accounted for 10 per cent, he said, adding that construction industry, which had been in negative growth, started picking up as a result of the implementation of that budget.

    He also noted there was growth in the basic metals, iron and steel industry during the period, urging the people to visit the mining sites and see for themselves what is happening there. According to him, the government has started preparing to collect data with the disbursement of the sum of money and to undertake a very granular observation of the impact of the fund in their sector over the period the money would be disbursed.

    “We already have the infrastructure master plan, so we are not reinventing the will, we know where the infrastructure needs life and we know where the goods and services needed to be moved to. We already have these all mapped out and so slowly but surely as Nigeria earns more money, as we can borrow more, with the clear plan to provide the transportation, good network and structure that allows you to do your business in a very effective, efficient and competitive way,” he said.

    He reassured commitment by the present government to reorganise, reinvigorate and reposition the mining industry in Nigeria, adding that illegal mining has been reduced by government policies and actions.

    “It is an ongoing engagement, the collaboration between stakeholders and states, Federal and local governments are being worked upon through the establishment of national council,” he said.

    He praised the ministry of solid minerals, saying it had done a very good job in so short a time in getting the conversation going.

    Fashola said restructuring was happening in the way the ministry is, engaging with the local communities and state governments in spite of a very clear exclusive powers that they have in the constitution.

  • Fashola calls for support to end Apapa gridlock

    Fashola calls for support to end Apapa gridlock

    The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, on Thursday in Lagos called for the collaboration of all stakeholders to tackle traffick gridlock, port congestion and other problems in Apapa and its environs.

    Fashola made the call at a stakeholders meeting on the ongoing Apapa Wharf Road reconstruction project in Surulere.

    The stakeholders at the meeting included the three financiers of the project, AG Dangote Construction Company Ltd, Flour Mills of Nigeria Ltd and Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).

    Others were National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO) and National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), among others.

    The stakeholders, after extensive deliberations,  agreed to resolve issues of logistics and regulation of truckers and port operations.

    They called on shipping companies to return to the system of using their loading bays and effective call up systems to end port congestions.

    They also  advised AP Molar Multi Terminal (APMT),  whose cargo operations take hours to emulate the operations of Port Terminal Multipurpose Ltd (PTML) who have perfected the act of evacuating cargo within minutes.

    They agreed that emergency interventions should be carried out on the roads around Coconut bus stop area and some other bad portions.

    They resolved to have another inclusive meeting to carry Shippers, government regulatory agencies and other stakeholders who were absent at the gathering along to evolve permanent solutions,

    Fashola advised the stakeholders to organise forums where they could proffer solution to the problems and make recommendations to government to speed up solutions on various issues.

    The minister stressed the need to put other ports in the country  to use to reduce pressure on the two major ports in Apapa and promised to work with his transport counterpart, Mr Rotimi Amechi,  to involve the rail sector in finding solutions.

    He called for sacrifice on the part of the various stakeholders as the Yuletide season is approaching to ensure speedy solution to all the problems.

    “During this period when everybody is sacrificing something, let us sacrifice, it is an exchange, everybody must sacrifice.

    “This is not about us, it is about everybody,” he told stakeholders.

    He explained that procurement process for the Oshodi Tin Can Island road was ongoing.

    Earlier, Fashola had inspected ongoing rehabilitation works at Costain and its environs, which he told journalists was to ensure smooth roads during the festive period.

    Honorary adviser to the Dangote Group, Mr Joseph Makoju said that Dangote was handling and co-funding the Apapa Wharf Road reconstruction project as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

    Makoju said that it was painful that the project was being misunderstood by both the public and a section of the media who make negative remarks against the Dangote Group instead of  commending it for giving back to society.

    He explained that the Dangote Group also suffered from the problems of gridlock and other problems caused by port congestions as  it affected their businesses and operations as well.

    He added that the company was ready to tackle all problems that related to the construction raised at the forum and deliver the project within one year.

    “We give our assurances that we will deliver and we need your understanding,” he said.

    Mr Ashif Juma, Managing Director AG Dangote Construction Company Ltd, contractors handling the project said that there was massive deployment of men and equipment to site as the rainy season ended adding that by November significant visible progress would be seen in the construction.

    Juma explained that it was not easy to work on old roads because some unexpected problems usually came up in the midst of the project.

    He added that the firm was working closely with the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing (FMPW$H) on the project and that work tempo would double in November.

    “We will work two shifts seven days a week. We cannot do this work without your help,” he told the other stakeholders.

    The NPA on its part promised to begin enforcement of traffic regulations in port areas which include Oshodi, Babs Aminasaun, Costain and Ijora Olopa road areas,

    NAN reports that Fashola,  on June 17 signed the N4.34 billion Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the reconstruction of the four kilometres Apapa Wharf road with AG Dangote Construction Company Ltd and other companies.

    The project is being funded by AG Dangote Construction Company Ltd, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and Flour Mills of Nigeria. (NAN).