ABUJA – Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission (ICRC) has blamed cancellation of some concessional agreements on refusal of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to comply with conditions of Public-Private-Partnership deals.
Chairman of the commission, Sen. Ken Nnamani, made this known in the 2013 Annual Report of the commission released to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja.
Nnamani said that the recalcitrant disposition of the MDAs to the concessions’ terms had led to persistent disputes in law courts and avoidable cancellation of some concessions.
“We regret that some MDAs still require a lot of pressure to submit to the regulatory guidance of the commission on PPP development, monitoring and compliance.
“More worrisome is the refusal of some MDAs to comply with contract terms and conditions of their PPP contracts.
“This is a situation which invariably leads to avoidable arbitrary cancellation of concessions and persistent disputes in law courts,’’ he said.
He, however, said that the commission assisted the MDAs to deliver world-class infrastructure projects by issuing Certificates of Compliance for two critical PPPs in 2013.
According to him, the list of these projects will be presented to the Federal Executive Council for approval.
He named the projects as the Maritime Surveillance Platform under Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) valued at 120 million dollars and the 1.2 billion dollars Lekki Deep Sea Port in Lagos.
“In addition, a total of 28 projects are being executed through PPP and have reached various stages.
“ One of these projects, the automation of activities of the citizenship and business department, is currently under implementation.
“Others are six roads and bridges projects, two deep sea ports and an inland port, one lighter terminal at Kirikiri, the concession for the Operation and Maintenance of narrow gauge Eastern and Western Railway lines,” he said.
The chairman added that the list also included the development and modernisation of road network in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja Medical City Mall and Abuja Mass Transit Railway Lot 2.[eap_ad_2]
He stated that the commission had also provided regulatory guidance for the development of many roads, bridges, sea ports and power projects across the country.
“As part of its regulatory activities, the ICRC has endeavoured to carry out monitoring and compliance activities on the Federal Housing Authority’s PPP projects and made interventions where necessary,’’ he said.
On the commission’s achievements in 2013, he said that Katampe urban infrastructure development, which served as a model for the development of urban infrastructure in the FCT reached 25 per cent completion during the period.
He said that NIMASA’s concession agreement with a private sector proponent on a “Supply-Operate-and-Own” basis for a suite of offshore surveillance platforms for the Nigerian maritime domain was sealed during the period.
“It is also worthy to note that the project preparation for the second Niger Bridge, the deep sea ports at Ibom and Lekki, together with Lagos-Kano and Port Harcourt-Maiduguri narrow gauge railway lines are moving according to schedule.
“As at December 2013, the second Niger Bridge reached the significant milestone and an accelerated procurement of concessionaire is in progress,’’ he said.
The former President of the Senate disclosed that certain weaknesses in the enabling law of the commission was affecting its operations and called for a speedy review of the law.
“A proposed amendment of the ICRC 2005 Act is at present before the Federal Executive Council for consideration,’’ he stated. (NAN)[eap_ad_3]
ICRC decries MDAs non-compliance with contract terms
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