FG okays N1.02tn for Port Harcourt-Onne road, cancer centre, others
August 19, 2026 10:01 pm
The Minister of State for Works, Bello Goronyo.
The Federal Government on Wednesday approved a combined sum of N1.02tn for major road construction projects and health sector infrastructure, including the N74.51bn upgrade of the East-West Road linking Port Harcourt to the Onne Port Junction in Rivers State, and N302.30bn for a new National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment Centre in Abuja.
The approvals were disclosed by the Minister of State for Works, Bello Goronyo, and the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Pate, while briefing State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Goronyo said the Ministry of Works presented seven memos to council, all of which were approved.
“The Federal Executive Council today considered about 50 memos, and the Ministry of Works came up with seven memos, six on road construction, and one on trailer parks,” he said.
Among the road contracts ratified was the reconstruction of the Ado-Ekiti-Iyin-Aramoko-Itawure-Osun State border road, awarded to Messrs CBC Global Civil and Building Construction Nigeria Limited at N159.83bn, with a completion period of 24 months.
Council also ratified variation orders for the rehabilitation of the Abeokuta-Iboro-Ilaro Road in Ogun State, changing the pavement structure from rigid concrete to flexible asphalt, awarded to Messrs Strabic Construction Limited at N54.118bn.
On the East-West Road, Goronyo said, “There is a section that is very bad now, and we believe with the approval of FEC now, it will go a long way in maintaining that road and make the place more conducive for our travellers and for the transportation of goods and services.”
The 15-kilometre Phase II upgrade, covering the Port Harcourt (Eleme Junction) to Onne Port Junction section, was awarded to Messrs RCC Nigeria Limited at N74.51bn, with a nine-month completion period.
Council also approved the Phase II rehabilitation of the Ado-Ekiti-Afe Babalola University Road along the Ado-Ijan/Iluomoba-Imesi Ondo State border in Ekiti State, awarded to Messrs S&M Nigeria Limited at N54.52bn, and the construction of the Ilara-Iselu Road, Phases II-V, in Ogun State, awarded to Messrs JRB Construction Company Limited at N94.24bn, with a 24-month completion period.
The Council also approved three Public-Private Partnership concessions for trailer parks and highway operations, to be entirely funded by the concessionaires under the Design, Finance, Build, Operate and Maintain/Transfer model, Goronyo disclosed.
These included the Suleja-Minna (Dikko-Maje) 7.9km road, awarded to Messrs Graciatech Engineering Nigeria Limited at N56.751bn over a 40-year concession period; the Operate and Maintain concession of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, awarded to Messrs LIB Concession Group at N96.425bn over 25 years; and the Greenfield Trailer Park in Aro-Ngwa, Abia State, awarded to Messrs Greg Jane International Limited at N19.703bn over a 50-year concession.
“The essence of these trailer parks is to ensure that we move trailers from our highways to a befitting site where they can park. It’s design, build, operate and transfer, with no kobo from the Federal Government. It’s a concession agreement,” Goronyo explained.
On health, Pate disclosed a series of approvals for the National Hospital Abuja, describing the facility’s condition as long overdue for attention.
He said, “This was a hospital established 25, 26 years ago to be a quaternary centre. But if you go into the National Hospital, it has not received the requisite attention in infrastructure and equipment for the last 25, 26 years.”
Pate revealed that the Council approved a new administrative management block for the hospital, awarded to Visible Construction Limited at N18.74bn; the construction of modular clinics and theatres across various specialties, awarded to Strabik Construction Limited at N64.92bn; a high-end wing awarded to CBC Global Civil Construction Nigeria Limited at N133bn, with a 24-month completion period; and a dedicated Neuroscience Institute, also awarded to CBC Global Civil and Building Construction Limited, at N69bn.
“Neuroscience, neurosurgical interventions, whether radiological, interventional or rehabilitative, require dedicated infrastructure to cater to those needs for patients, not only here in Abuja but all over our country,” Pate said, adding “The approvals that FEC granted, if you add cumulatively the investment in the National Hospital over the last 27 years, is far less than what this government has been able to do today.”
The Minister said building on the administration’s earlier investment in cancer treatment centres in Katsina, Benin and Enugu, the council approved the design, construction, furnishing, equipment, supervision and commissioning of a flagship National Institute for Cancer Research and Treatment Centre, awarded to CBC Global Civil and Building Construction Nigeria Limited at N302.30bn, with a 36-month completion period.
He revealed, “These two major investments are really modernising the infrastructural landscape for the health sector, which will serve Nigerians and hopefully make it less likely for Nigerians to have to travel long distances to get the care they need.
“Quality healthcare is not cheap. The Federal Government is investing, and we’re happy that some states are also investing, because you cannot have the healthcare system you wish for if you don’t put the resources behind it.”
Pate argued that the contracts followed due process through the Bureau of Public Procurement.
“This is unprecedented, because to be honest, Nigeria has not invested significantly or seriously in health infrastructure. If you look at roads, there are hundreds of billions that are being awarded every day, and they are very necessary. But when it comes to investing in health, we are not used to those major investments. Now we are beginning to change that,” he said.
With three years of experience, Stephen, The PUNCH correspondent, has been covering Nigeria’s presidency, politics, security, immigration and trafficking in persons
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