FG To Scrap EFCC And 219 Other MDAs

Federal government is to scrap 220 parastatals, agencies and commissions in line with the recommendation of the Stephen Oronsaye-led presidential committee on the rationalisation and restructuring of the federal government's  parastatals and commissions.

FG Claims N30b Available For 2nd Niger Bridge

The federal government, yesterday, said it has earmarked a total of N30 billion for the construction of the second Niger Bridge, 21 years after it was designed.

The current River Niger Bridge which was built in 1965 is at the brink of caving in and has become a nightmare to commuters mainly due to poor maintenance, overuse, frequent subjection to overbearing deadweight and cannibalization.

Mike Onolememen, minister of Works said that "N30 billion is already there for the construction of the second Niger Bridge, which he said, is “undergoing geo-technical survey.”

The amount, he said was the federal government’s counterpart funding of the multi-billion naira project.

It would be recalled that the federal government had in August last year dusted the idea of a second Niger Bridge and said that it has approved a contract of N325 million to Messrs Roughton International Limited, a transaction advisory services firm, to design, build, finance and operate the proposed second Niger Bridge.

FG to go tough on private jet owners

There are indications that the Federal Government will impose stringent measures on private jet owners and charter aircraft operators to avert disaster in the general aviation section, investigation by our correspondent has revealed.

This, it was learnt, was the outcome of an emergency meeting between the Minister of Aviation, Mrs. Stella Oduah, and heads of the aviation agencies, with some top players in the aviation sector in Abuja last Wednesday.

The minister reportedly said at the meeting, which ended around 3am, that there was need to look deeply into the operation of the general aviation sector, which involves private and chartered aircraft.

Part of the measures, it was learnt, would include imposing heavy sanctions on any non-compliance with standard safety procedure.