The Federal Executive Council (FEC), presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, has approved N27.233 billion for the construction of Gombe-Biu.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, at the end of the council meeting in Abuja.
The minister, who disclosed that council also approved the Revised National Building Code, said the road project has 24 months completion period.
“We presented two documents, one was a Memorandum that required council approval and the other was a note to inform council. There are important because they follow closely and inter- relate with the economy and recovery plan. The first which was a memo was a contract of the Gombe – Biu Road that connects Gombe State to Borno and also leads to Adamawa and Yobe.
“The contract was for N27.23 billion for a 117km.The entire Road excludes the 9km that had been constructed by the Gombe State government. The strategic importance of the road is undeniable, it supports agriculture, access to our power plants – Dadin Kowa hydro power plants.
“It also helps security logistics to move personnel and troops to respond to distress calls. It also going to be critical in the resettlement of IDPS. It’s part of the North East Development plan so it ticks all the boxes in terms of development and so on and also as far as budget implementation is concerned, this is one further step in that direction,” he said.
On the new building code, the minister said it’s a project that is eight years behind its scheduled date.
He said: “The first code was delivered in 2006 and it was revised in 2009 and since then it was stalled. Needless to say we have completed and approved the new code at the National Council of Housing which the ministry posted in August this year./It has national binding already and is just to inform council.
“The information that is critical is that it first adopts international building code standards and it also seeks to improve fire protection systems in buildings, public and private and in this time of harmattan, dry weather, this is the appropriate time to revise this kind of standards and hope that they can quickly kick in and people benefit from them and we save lives and property.
“It also introduces the energy efficiency and green building methods into our national standards. Recall that the ministry had launched an energy efficiency building code earlier in the year and that has been incorporated as a national building code to ensure that people build more in compliance to global standard. You can position your building in such a way that people use more daylight, conserve energy, install fire heating systems that conserve energy. All of those are details that are aligned in the new Nigeria National building code. More importantly, I will like to speak on the provisions that has been made in responding to the needs of people with disabilities, that’s a very important position in the code now. Provision of hand grills in toilets and washrooms, hand rails in ramps, lifts and ramps in public buildings to do some electro fitting as we go on.”
