Press Release

The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission is deeply concerned about the recent media reports on the 2^nd Niger Bridge which emanated from the Director General’s media briefing on August 26, 2015, following a meeting with His Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR. The Director General, Mr Aminu Diko, had briefed the President on the status of PPP projects in the Commission over which it performed regulatory oversight. As expected the 2^nd Niger Bridge was one of the projects mentioned, amongst others. The Commission wishes to thank the media for giving it the opportunity to highlight the main thrust of its discussion with the President. However the slant the story on the 2^nd Niger Bridge was given by the media is a bit worrisome to the Commission and it wishes to clarify the position. The Director General did not say the 2nd Niger Bridge project is “on hold”, “stalled”, or is being“probed” or even “suspended” as reported in some media headlines. He emphasized that the Commission would like to see the Niger Bridge completed to alleviate the plight travellers face on that route especially during festivities. As he rightly said: “We know that it is critical, we also know how Nigerians suffer during festive holidays and we hear people sleep on that old bridge. The time has come to bring succour to Nigerians”. The Director General, however, said as a PPP, the project must pass through various checks to satisfy the federal government and investors alike of its viability, affordability, and also to ensure people get value for money. He then affirmed the Commission had expressed concerns about project cost vis-à-vis projected toll fees and engagement of community stakeholders whose land would be affected along the bridge’s right of way, amongst others. ICRC wishes to state that these regulatory issues predate the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari. Indeed, the immediate past Chairman of the Commission’s Governing Board, Senator Ken Nnamani GCON was emphatic that as important as the 2nd Niger Bridge is, it must be procured in strict compliance with the ICRC Act and the National Policy on PPP. To this end, the Commission assures Nigerians that it is working with the Federal Ministry of Works to resolve these issues as quickly as possible. We had expected the media reports would give prominence to other seemingly important projects we talked about which are currently being subjected to the same regulatory oversight, such as the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, the Sagamu-Ore-Benin road, the Murtala Mohammed road, the 3 Deep Seaports each at Ibom, Lekki, and Badagry, the Agric Silos, Hydro power, etc. All these projects are important to the nation and it is in our interest that they are successful. Most importantly, our duty is not only to oversee the provision of quality infrastructure services, but also to ensure that while investors are assured of the opportunity to recoup their investments, the nation and citizens are not shortchanged.  

Signed

Deborah Okafor

Acting Head of Communications

Director General

Abuja, Nigeria; 13 August 2015: Director General of the ICRC, Mr. Aminu Diko, has emphasised the usefulness of getting the private sector involved in the provision of national security infrastructure through Public Private Partnerships. He expressed this view while presenting a lecture titled “Infrastructure and National Development: Implication for National Security” to participants of the Executive Intelligence Management Course (EIMC) 8 at the Institute for Security Studies, Abuja. According to Mr. Diko, who was represented by Mr. Chiedu Ndubuisi, Technical Adviser DG, the trend the world over has seen countries actively involve the private sector in the provision of infrastructure that is required for national security among other uses. He recalled that ICRC had guidedthe successful concession arrangement between Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and Global West Vessels Ltd for a 24 hour satellite the surveillance of the entire Nigeria maritime domain and coastal areas. Diko said the Nigerian Infrastructure Integrated Master Plan has estimated that about 48% of the infrastructure spend for Nigeria estimated at USD3 trillion over the next 30 years will be financed through PPP. The infrastructure spend on the construction of 3,000 new police stations, 1000 new prisons, and 170 new barracks will require private finance. On the issue of curbing terrorism, he said Nigeria can adopt the Brazilian model of an Operations Command Centre in the city of Rio which has a state-of - the art surveillance office that monitors activities in the city.

The Director General, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Mr Aminu Diko has stressed the need for MDAs to subject their public private partnership endeavours to the regulatory oversight of the Commission to ensure the projects attract potential private investors. Mr. Diko made this known when he received the Vice Chancellor, and members of the management team of the University of Abuja who paid a familiarization visit to the Commission. According to the DG, ICRC, “it is only in an atmosphere of transparency and competitiveness and where the best private sector proponent emerges the preferred bidder that the PPP objectives can be achieved. He further said that in the circumstances the country has found itself, it has no option than to partner with the private sector to provide needed infrastructure services. “The beauty of PPP is that the private sector comes with scarce capital and innovation and has the added ability to deliver on time and according to specifications”. Speaking earlier, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Abuja, Professor Michael Adikwu, while explaining the basis for the visit, disclosed that the University management is seeking to embark on PPP arrangements with private institutions to develop projects like hostels and ancillary services that would benefit the students and the university community. He said the vast expanse of land within the university’s territory is yearning for development, and the private sector could key into this. In the meantime both parties had agreed to the setting up of a joint team to determine which projects would benefit from public-private partnership.