Caleb Onwe 
…Directs Council Chairmen to form Committee against Illegal Mining
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike has berated officials of the Federal Capital Development Authority ( FCDA) over indiscriminate variation of contracts.
Wike who spoke on Thursday during an inspection of ongoing repair works at the Lower Usuma Dam Water Treatment plant, in Bwari Area Council, said it was unfortunate that government officials were engaging in contract variation, without concrete plans for its execution.
While assuring that the FCTA is going to overhaul the entire system, the Minister disclosed plans to prioritise and fund ten projects, as part of the measures to check the menace of abandoned and uncompleted projects in the territory.
According to him: “We are going to overhaul the entire system. I have never seen a thing like this before in my life. What you see in FCDA contract variation from N10bn to N120bn, from N50bn to N200bn. It is alarming and I am not going to accept it.
“It was unfortunate that while we went to the Gurara road, it was very embarrassing, and this is not what they are going to take. The job was awarded in 2017 at the cost of N20bn, in 2020 the revised the contract sum to N50bn.
“As I speak to you, we have paid almost N50bn, what is outstanding from what the man in charge has said is N900m, and now the N900m will not be enough to complete the job that they have done about 90percent and thereby we move to another variation. This is what we are not going to accept.”
In a related development, the Minister who held a maiden meeting with the Six Area Councils Chairmen, also directed that a surveillance Committee be constituted to check the activities of illegal miners.
The minister noted that security issues must be taken more seriously by the chairmen considering their proximity to the grassroot.
“With the illegal mining activities in your areas, you people need to constitute a surveillance team to help the situation.
“I’m going to meet with the Minister of Mining and Steel to discuss the mining activities in the Federal Capital Territory”
