Abuja – President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday welcomed an assurance from Centenary City PLC that all the original inhabitants of the site had been fully compensated.
The president made his feelings known after he was briefed on the Centenary project by the Chairman of the company’s Board of Directors, retired Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar and members of its management team, in the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
President Buhari praised the Centenary City’s main development partners from the United Arab Emirates for having enough confidence in Nigeria to agree to invest about 18.5 billion dollars in the project.
He also welcomed the statement by Gen. Abubakar and his team that the project would create about 250,000 more direct jobs in the Federal Capital Territory and about half a million indirect jobs.
According to him, the skills, expertise and vast experience that will be brought into the country to build the Centenary City on the Dubai model, will also be of immense benefit to Nigeria’s overall development.
He expressed the desire for regular updates on the Centenary City’s development.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who was also present at the briefing, said that the issue of the rights of the original inhabitants of the site acquired for the Centenary City had been of concern to the current administration.
While welcoming the assurance that compensation had been paid to those who would be displaced by the project, Osinbajo also noted that the issue of their relocation was being addressed.
“We are glad that it is being handled,’’ he said.
Gen. Abubakar and the management of the Centenary City had informed President Buhari and Vice President Osinbajo that the project would be totally private sector driven.
Fielding questions from State House correspondents after the meeting, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr John Chukwu, said the president was impressed and hoped that the project would be actualised.
He, however, denied any knowledge of an allegation of N12 billion waiver scandal involving the Centenary City Plc.
The Managing Director of the Centenary City Plc, Dr Odenigwe Micheal, told the correspondents that the company, owned by 40 local and international investors, was being sponsored by the Sovereign Wealth Fund.
“Centenary City PLC is owned by 40 Nigerian and international investors and our partner, the Eagles Hill.
“The project is sponsored by the sovereign wealth fund, which has over 12 million dollars in its management under agreement with the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) and other extant agreements.
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“We have paid all the interested holders the compensation for the Centenary City site.
“We are going ahead with their relocation, which is also being supervised by the FCDA,’’ he added.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting of the management of the Centenary City Plc came at a time when the National Vice Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), South-South, Dr Cairo Ojougboh, petitioned President Buhari over alleged malpractice in the execution of the project.
Ojougboh, particularly, called on the president to probe the role of the immediate former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Sen. Pius Anyim, in the multi-billion dollar project.(NAN)