President Bola Tinubu has directed the stepdown of memos from the Federal Ministry of Works to allow the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to re-examine projects that require augmentation and review.
Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, disclosed this to State House correspondents after the council meeting at the Presidential Villa.
According to him, the president directed the Minister of Works, David Umahi, to work with the Ministers of Budget and National Planning and the Minister of Finance to steam-line all projects contained in the memo for appropriate funding intervention.
Idris further said the president equally directed that all projects that require additional funding precisely from the memos presented at the 7th Council meeting be reconsidered for further deliberation at the next council meeting.
“Of significant note, the FEC has decided to step down memos from the Ministry of Works until the next council meeting. The idea is to re-examine those parts that require augmentation and review.
“The minister of works has been directed to work with the Minister of Budget and National Planning and the Minister of Finance to look at the memos again and put them back in line where there is a need for additional funding it will be returned to the council for augmentation.”
The minister explained that the projects required to step down were inherited from previous administrations and are now streamlined and reworked with priority to ensure their installmental completion.
He clarified that the Lagos-Calabar highway and other newly approved roads by the administration of President Tinubu are not part of the projects but that the council is ready to reconsider and re-prioritise most of the inherited projects under the Federal Ministry of Works while it sources alternative funding and re-evaluate those that can be completed.
“Those projects that were required to be stepped down are part of inherited projects from 13 years ago some of them were inherited from past administrations and are now streamlined and worked out to ensure they are completed instalmentally the Lagos-Calabar highway is not suffering Budget augmentation.
“Most of the projects are those carried over due to variation and the council has decided to ensure that all the projects should be stepped down, they will not be thrown away but will be reconsidered and re-prioritised and the government will source for funding for the projects and the government will look at those that can be completed.”
He emphasised that the projects were not only stepped down for funding reasons but due to other variables.