₦airaland Forum

I repeat. It can only happen in my country NIGERIA.!

By stopping a staggering N64bn contract for the construction of a second runway at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, recently, the nation’s lawmakers have saved the nation what would have been another huge drain on its resources. The House of Representatives, in the exercise of its oversight functions, promptly suspended the brazenly padded contract. The lawmakers found, to their dismay, that the N64bn earlier earmarked for the four-kilometre runway contract is enough to build two new airports. The House has thus asked the Federal Aviation Authority of Nigeria to halt the construction and await the outcome of its investigative hearing during which the International Civil Aviation Organisation will be invited to assess the project and its cost.


Aviation authorities say the runway is necessary to unburden the current airstrip. The legislators have, by their action, paved the way for another look at the contract with a view to seeking alternative way of executing the important project at a cost comparable to the global standards.


The Federal Executive Council had, in December 2009, approved the construction of the runway because the present one built 27 years ago had outlived its design and life span of 20 years. The analysis provided by the House indicates that, at the cost of N64bn, the runaway, if constructed, would have been the most expensive in the world. Under a competitive and transparent tendering process, the project should cost between N24bn and N26bn.


Comparatively, it has been revealed that Bucharest Airport in Romania recently had its runway installed for the equivalent of N17.5bn, while a similar construction reportedly cost N18bn in Thailand. Back home, a complete International Airport recently built by the Akwa Ibom State Government, with maintenance facilities and the country’s longest runway, reportedly cost N42bn.


Spending a whopping N64bn on a runway would have been another avoidable leakage. Funneling public funds into private pockets through inflated contracts has been the bane of the nation’s infrastructure development. The World Bank once rated the cost of contract execution in Nigeria as one of the highest in the world. While inaugurating the Presidential Projects Assessment Committee recently, Acting President Goodluck Jonathan told newsmen that petitions on inflated contracts and abandoned projects had flooded the seat of power. And despite committing about N1.5 trillion to road projects since 1979, many of the contracts were found to have been abandoned.


The aviation sector, too, has, over time, been mired in allegations of graft. For instance, the N19.5bn intervention fund released by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration in the wake of three successive air mishaps between 2005 and 2006 was allegedly misapplied, leading to the arrest and prosecution of two former ministers of aviation, Babalola Borishade and Femi Fani-Kayode, an Austrian contractor, George Eder, and the former Managing Director of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, Roland Iyayi.


NAMA, in June 2008, told the Senate Committee on Aviation probing the disbursement and application of the intervention fund that FAAN inflated the contract for the Safe Tower Project by N5.5bn.


Early in his tenure, Obasanjo had set up a probe panel headed by Justice Obiora Nwazota to investigate alleged $400 million scandal in the Nigeria Airways. Some officials were consequently indicted and ordered to refund millions of dollars.


It is however better to prevent such looting than wasting more money on probes after the deed had been done. This, indeed, is why the assemblymen should be commended for stopping the allegedly inflated runway contract. But the legislators must dig deeper to identify those who would have benefited from the padded contract. Did the contract go through the routine tendering process? If not, how was the due process bypassed? What happened to the Bureau of Public Procurement?


All those involved in bungling the process do not deserve to retain their public positions. They should be identified and punished. The House needs to be thorough and firm in this assignment. Members should not hesitate to expose and recommend for prosecution all those behind the Abuja runway contract scam.


The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission should be involved in getting to the root of the scandal. The runway project, owing to its importance, can be re-awarded to a new contractor at a reasonable cost after an open and competitive bidding process.


Above all, contract padding and other corrupt acts are mere symptoms of an opaque public contracting system. A freedom of information law is urgently required to infuse more transparency into the system. There is need for continued vigilance by the public to check the criminal culture of using contracts as a veritable means of corrupt self-enrichment.





ONLY IN NIGERIA,

I watched it in the news. She was almost crying. It seems the whole house is against her. Poor Dora!

It was Dec. 2003,  I got Econet line for 7500 Naira. Hmmn, old memories!

Price increase, service decline. ONLY IN NIGERIA!

I hope the power supply in and around Abuja will not fail this time.!

@an0minos, I couldn't have agree more with you. Bunch of idiots!

Got a clean Nokia e51, fully hacked and with lots of applications for sale@ 21k. call me on 0

scam?

ok then drop it here skunbi@yahoo.com

@Benedictac, thats not my qualification o. It sure is some people's credentials though!

OMG! What the heck are they looking for in that damn country in the first place. Is Sudan better than Nigeria to them?

Not seen anyone with these below qualifications so far!

HIV, AIDS, STD, TB and so on.

Are you ashame to flaunt your papers. lol

Na wao una don spoil business for the original poster. lol

Anyway, I also have a fairly used e51 nokia going for 21k. Call erested

Will somebody help me here, whenever i start my firefox browser, it takes time to start up or wouldnt start at all. IF i finally want to shut down my system it says do i want to close firefox which did not open in the first place. I have the latest firefox browser. Thank you all

Will somebody help me here, whenever i start my firefox browser, it takes time to start up or wouldnt start at all. IF i finally want to shut down my system it says do i want to close firefox which did not open in the first place. I have the latest firefox browser. Thank you all

Search the forum well. You get virtually everything here. Go to technology market section. Better still go to www.nairalist.com

@ poster, you cant get help here. Run to the technology section NOW!

Your information up there is incomplete. Tell us if na money you wan collect or else upload the damn software you developed.

30k sef too much, i get 26k. deal?

WHAT? 1.35m for a naija used 98 camry? How much is the tokunbo then? Maybe 1.6m huh? Lol

Maybe na the original of the original. I can't stop laughing o!

will somebody hhelp me out here. i have a nokia e51. i need an application that will enable me take full screen pictures. hayprof and others where art thou? i go vex o!

Pls guys, I use a nokia e51. Can I get any application that will allow me have a full screen view when using the camera. Thanks in advance.

is it mini laptop or netbook? does it have dvd-rom drive?

@ Brein, that number you put up there is'nt working. Put a working no or call me on 08

abrahym:
Buy my universal data card,work with all 9ja network,08022516249

How much?

The man has died long ago. The military are actually warming up now.

I have been getting the calls from these numbers since three days now. Where could it be coming from? May God save us from these theives o

Now, you are talking. Nice ride!

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