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President Muhammadu Buhari some outgoing ministers and governors have embarked on last-minute appointments, investigations by Saturday PUNCH have revealed.
Our correspondents also observed that Buhari and his ministers awarded contracts worth over N3.7tn in the dying embers of his regime.
The appointments and contracts were awarded between March 20, 2023 and May 14, 2023 after the conduct of the presidential and governorship elections, which produced Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress as President-elect and a total of 28 governors out of which 16 newly elected governors will take over from their predecessors, who will complete their constitutionally approved second term in office.
However, some of the outgoing governors made last-minute appointments in the period under review.
Analyses by PUNCH correspondents revealed that over N3.7tn worth of contracts were awarded between March 20 and May 14, 2023.
During the Federal Executive Council meeting held on March 23, the sum of N453.90bn was approved for the acquisition of rolling stock, operation and maintenance equipment for the Kano-Maradi standard gauge rail line under construction.
The FEC also approved N5,157,265,770 for the construction of 192 flats for officers and men of the National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency and $984.7m for the procurement of maintenance equipment for the Nigerian Railway Corporation on the same date.
During the FEC meeting held on March 29, 2023, various contracts worth N210bn were approved for provisions of various infrastructure, including free Internet services at 20 of the nation’s airports, 43 higher institutions and 20 markets across the country.
A breakdown of the contracts showed that N95.98bn was for various road projects, while N59. 78bn was approved for the continuation of the ongoing Ogoni clean-up.
Peoplesmind
