By Grace Alegba

The Federal Government says, it would resume phase 2 rehabilitation works on the Marine Beach Bridge, Apapa, Lagos, from Tuesday.

The Federal Controller of Works in Lagos, Mr Olukayode Popoola, disclosed this in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Sunday.

Popoola said that the rehabilitation which would last for a total of 85 days,  would ensure the replacement of damaged expansion joints, bearings and asphalt components.

He said work started on the Apapa-bound lane in 2020 with the repairs covering 250 metres span.

He, however, said that a stretch of 350 metres would be repaired in the phase 2 of the project on the CMS-bound lane.

Explaining the scope of work, the federal controller said a total of 60 bearings and 14 expansion joints would be replaced alongside the removal and replacement of bad asphalt.

“This is the continuation of the rehabilitation work we started last year. We are going to change 14 number of expansion joints, 60 bearings and jacketing skin repairs.

“It is a continuation of the work the Federal Government started last year.

“Traffic will be diverted back to the outward Apapa lane after 350m, where work will be carried out

“After the replacement of expansion joints, we will change the bearings that are bad by lifting the deck up and then we will put fresh asphalt.

“The work will be done within the stretch of 350 metres, so there will be diversion; it is not that we are closing the bridge, but we are diverting traffic.

“There will be skin repairs and jacketing of the piers. It is going to be about 85 days’ repairs, starting from March 9, 2021,’’he said.

To avert gridlock, Popoola said all the traffic regulatory agencies as well as law enforcement agencies had been deployed to effectively manage traffic around the diversion points.

“Lagosians should please bear with us,’’ he said.

NAN recalls that the said bridge, which was damaged by fire several years ago, had undergone series of repairs with the last one concluded in October 2020.

By Ifeanyi Olannye

Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta has expressed satisfaction over the peaceful conduct of the local government council elections of Saturday in the state.

Okowa sated this in an interview with newsmen after casting his vote at DSIEC Ward 3; unit 3 at Eghoma Primary School, Owa-Alero in Ika North East Local Government Area of the state

The governor said that from the report that he was getting, everything was going on peacefully.

He noted that materials for the election were distributed to every local government early enough for a seamless conduct of the election.

“From all the report I am getting thus far, everything is going on peacefully; materials have been distributed to every local government; the sensitive materials were distributed by Friday.

“And the information that I am getting is that they have all been moved to their various polling units in the various wards.

“We don’t have much of the challenge here (his polling unit) and I think in many parts of the state, we don’t have much of the challenge because, of the 500 councillors, I think about 240 of them have been returned unopposed,” he said.

According to him, it is only half of the councillors that are actually contesting in the election; the other ones have been returned unopposed. So, that makes the whole thing more peaceful.

“As I did cast my vote here, the vote was just for the chairmanship candidate alone because the councillor in this place has been returned unopposed.

“The place is peaceful and in the course of the day, we will be getting more report. The security agencies have been fully mobilised and we hope that everything goes on very smoothly,” he said.

Okowa said that PDP did massive ward to ward and unit to unit campaign in preparation for the election.

He also noted that the opposition in some local governments also did some campaign.

“But there are some local governments that they (the opposition) did not do campaign at all because it is when you have strength that you will go on to do campaign.

“As I said earlier, it is about 240 councilors that have been returned unopposed, 260 of them which is also a sizeable number, are contesting the elections.

“Again, 24 local government council chairmen are contesting the election. So, there were massive campaigns,” he added.

On why he chose to conduct local government council elections, Okowa said that the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria provided for a democratically elected local government council.

He added that any governor who was not conducting local government elections was actually failing to obey the Constitution of the country which he swore to uphold.

“Therefore, I had always insisted and maintained that I will never at any point in time, have what we called caretaker committees and I think it is only fair that we should be obedient to the Constitution since it has provided for a democratically elected local government,” he stated.

Also, state Commissioner for Information, Mr Charles Aniagwu, described the local government council elections as generally peaceful.

Aniagwu spoke after casting his vote at ward 9, unit 2, in Akumazi Umuocha, Ika North East Local Government Area of the state.

He said elections in the community were always like a contest between brothers  and without any ill feelings.

“We take it (election) like a new yam festival where you don’t need to enlighten anybody on how to behave. Everybody knows it is a contest and no need for fight. It is just the tradition of the people of the community.

“We put our town first before any contest and we do know that at the end of the day, it means well for the community, such that anyone that wins, you will see the next person embracing him. So, it is a contest between brothers,” the commissioner said.

On his part, an APC councillorship candidate from the same ward, Mr Sunday Onyenake, also affirmed that the elections were peaceful.

“We don’t fight for elections. I am satisfied with what is happening now as far as this local government council election is concerned,” Onyenake said.

By Rotimi Ijikanmi

The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) says the Digital Switch Over (DSO) project will be completed by middle of 2022 when the country will fully transit from analogue to digital terrestrial broadcasting.

The Acting Director-General of the Commission, Prof. Armstrong Idachaba, gave the assurance during an interview with newsmen in Abuja on Sunday.

“With the commitment of N9.4 billion by the Federal Government and the setting up of the Ministerial Task Force by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, there will be accelerated activities toward the delivery of the project,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the minister on Feb. 23 announced the approval of the fund at the inauguration of the 14-member Ministerial Task Force to drive the DSO rollout in the remaining 31 states.

Idachaba said that with the launch of the pilot programme in Jos, Plateau in 2016, followed by Abuja and subsequently Kwara, Kaduna, Enugu and lastly Osogbo, in Feb. 2018, the launch had now resumed in big cities.

“We are going to Lagos very soon and before the third quarter of this year, we would have covered, at least, five more states.

“The signal distributors are ready and, as we speak, they are setting up their infrastructure in Lagos, Port-Harcourt and Kano, preparatory to the roll out.

“The box manufacturers are also working to ensure the availability of boxes needed.

“There is a big ambition to achieve this national assignment and the good news is that all the component players within the ecology are ready to go.

“By the plans we have, by the middle of 2022, we would have completed the digital switch over in Nigeria,’’ he said.

Idachaba gave credit to the minister for his vision in the implementation of the DSO project, stressing that the Task Force he set up was all encompassing.

“We have as part of the members, a representative of the Minister of Finance.

“I must put on record the huge support we have enjoyed from the minister in trying to push through the idea of making available the fund approved for the roll out.

“If I get the body language well, I think there are obvious signs that money will be released on time and the usual bottlenecks will not happen this time,’’ he said.

The NBC boss said they had done a retrospective analysis of what had been done over the time and identified the gaps.

He expressed the confidence that they would have a faster and seamless roll out across states, having resolved all disputes that could lead to legal cog.

Idachaba faulted the belief in certain quarters that the country missed two deadlines – June 2015 and July 2020 – owing to poor conception, mismanagement, corruption and bad leadership.

He explained that transiting from analogue to digital broadcasting all over the world is not a tea party because it is a highly demanding, tasking endeavor.

“No country has set a date and actualised it on the first set date.

“In the UK, they had to revise their entire transition strategy after they had pumped in millions of Pound Sterling.

“Also, in the USA, they had to reset the date over and over before they eventually transited,’’ he said.

He said that there were social implications for transition including affordability and accessibility as well as political, cultural considerations and financial constraints.

Specifically, he said the challenges in Nigeria had been lack of political will and financial constraints.

Idachaba said that since Mohammed came on board as minister in 2015, he mustered the political will and got the pilot scheme running in Jos followed by other states.

In addressing the challenge of limited resources, he said that with the approval of the N9.4 billion, by the government, it has been resolved that the project would be self-sustaining.

Comparatively in Africa, Idachaba said that Nigeria was miles ahead of many countries in the continent in the DSO process.

“Only few counries have been able to complete the process in Africa and when you look at their sizes they are like one sixth of our territorial space and populations.

“One of them only has one TV station like NTA and when they change their national broadcasting infrastructure, they declared that they had already transited,’’ he said.

NAN reports that the whole idea of DSO came by the 2006 decision of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) that there is an increasing need for use of spectrum, a scarce resource in telecommunication.

Researches indicate that there will be better and more spectrum availability if broadcasters vacate from the analogue to digital mode of transmission.

In addition, migrating from analogue to digital mode will lead to increase in frequencies, lower broadcasting cost and improve viewing quality for consumers. (NAN)

By Fortune Abang

The Peculiar Gracious Family Foundation, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), has given N10.5 million financial support to some Nyanya residents in the Federal Capital Territory.

The Foundation, which handed out cheques of N35,000 each to 300 beneficiaries on Saturday, said that the gesture was in support of the Federal Government’s initiative on poverty alleviation.

Mrs Juliet Ezekiel, National Coordinator of the Foundation, said that poverty alleviation could not be achieved with only the effort of government.

“We are here to empower the vulnerable and to eradicate poverty in the community.

“Our vision is to support government initiative in terms of eradication of poverty in the lives of the people, at least to enable them to have something at the time of their needs,” she said.

Ezekiel said that the cash donations would be done weekly to enable more people to benefit from the initiative.

A beneficiary, Mr Patrick Bassey, thanked the Foundation for putting up the programme, pointing out that he benefited immensely from it.

“I attended the event and I did not even know that I  was shortlisted as a beneficiary.

“I am glad the Foundation is aptly touching people lives under the ongoing global pandemic,” Bassey said.

Another beneficiary, Mrs Mary Daniels, a widow, thanked the Foundation for its timely intervention.

“I started a small business since my husband’s demise in 2010. This empowerment will help to enhance my children’s education,” she said. (NAN)

By Yakubu Uba

The Borno Government has uncovered about 550 fake Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), after conducting headcount of displaced persons at Mohammed Goni College of Islamic Legal Studies camp in Maiduguri.

This is contained in a statement by Malam Isa Gusau, Special Adviser on Communications and Strategy to Gov. Babagana Zulum on Sunday in Maiduguri.

“At about midnight on Sunday, Gov. Babagana Zulum visited Mohammed Goni College of Islamic Legal Studies in Maiduguri, where Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Abadam were being camped.

“Zulum immediately sealed entrance and supervise a headcount to identify actual IDPs, in order to put a stop to rampant cases of dubious residents pretending to be IDPs, claiming food rations meant displaced persons.

“The governor discovered that out of the 1,000 IDP households in the records of humanitarian officials, only 450 were genuine IDPs, while the rest 550 were ghosts.

“In humanitarian system, a household normally consist of at least six persons who are either related through families, or chosen to stay together for the purpose of receiving household aids,” Gusau said.

According to Gusau, Zulum is not averse to approving support for vulnerable persons in the state.

“Already, there is a committee attending to such people, a case where some residents of Maiduguri are making dubious claims in other to take what is meant for IDPs while also benefiting from other welfare packages targeted at non IDPs is unacceptable,” he said.  (NAN)

By Ismaila Chafe

President Muhammadu Buhari started the week on March 2 with a briefing from a delegation he sent to Zamfara to sympathise with the people and government of the state on the kidnapped Jangebe schoolgirls.

The delegation was headed by the Minister of Aviation, Sen. Hadi Sirika, with the Minister of Police Affairs, Alhaji Maigari Dingyadi; Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Hajiya Sa’adiya Umar-Faruk and Minister of Women Affairs, Mrs Pauline Tallen as members.

Barely 24 hours after receiving feedback from the delegation, the president on March 3, expressed joy over the reported release of the abducted schoolgirls.

The president expressed his delight in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu.

Buhari said: “I join families and people of Zamfara State in welcoming and celebrating the release of these traumatized female students.”

Few hours after the release of the schoolgirls, the president summoned a meeting of the National Security Council.

The March 2 meeting of the council reviewed the renewed onslaught on insurgency, banditry and other violent crimes by the Federal Government to achieve desired goals.

In attendance at the meeting were Osinbajo; Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha; Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari and the Minister of Defence, retired Maj.-Gen.  Bashir Magashi.

Others were Ministers of Police Affairs, Maigari Dingyadi; Interior, Rauf Aregbesola; the Chief of Defence Staff, Maj.-Gen. Lucky Irabor, other Service Chiefs and the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu.

At the end of the meeting, the Federal Government declared Zamfara a no-fly zone and banned all forms of mining activities in the state.

On March 3, Buhari presided over the 36th virtual meeting of the Federal Executive Council at the Council Chamber of the State House.

In attendance at the meeting were Osinbajo, Mustapha, Gambari and 10 ministers.

The ministers include Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Finance, Zainab Ahmed, Justice, Abubakar Malami, Agriculture Sabo Nanono and Environment, Mahmood Mohammed.

Others were the Ministers of Humanitarian Affairs, Sadiya Umar, Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, Power, Sale Mamman, and Interior, Rauf Aregbesola.

The council meeting approved total reconstruction of the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano highway at a cost of N797.2 billion.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the figure shows an increase of N642.2 billion over the N155 billion the council previously approved for the rehabilitation of the same highway.

The council also approved N10. 4 billion for the procurement of fire-fighting vehicles and equipment for the Federal Fire Service and N6.04 billion for the provision of potable water in the four local government areas in Ogoniland in Rivers.

On March 4, Buhari inaugurated the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) Technology Building in Abuja, where he directed the NIS to improve surveillance and control around the nation’s borders, to check the activities of criminal elements in the country.

Buhari also met behind closed doors with Gov. Yahaya Bello of Kogi, where he enjoined all Nigerians to go about their lawful businesses as “the country’s unity is not negotiable”.

Also on March 4, Osinbajo delivered a keynote address at the 16th Biennial Delegates Conference of the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, held at Michael Okpara Square in Enugu.

Speaking on the theme: “The Unquenchable Light”, Osinbajo said: “We must bear this gospel of Jesus Christ, knowing that it is the beacon of hope and succour for our nation.

”As bearers of the gospel we are the reconcilers-in-chief.”

Buhari and Osinbajo concluded their engagements for the week on March 6, when they received vaccinations for the coronavirus.

The president’s chief physician, Dr Suhayb Rafidadi, administered the vaccine on Buhari at about 11.52 a.m., while the vice-president was vaccinated by his personal physician immediately after the president had received his dose.

Buhari, who is the ECOWAS Champion on the Fight against COVID-19 and Osinbajo also got COVID-19 vaccination cards.

The Nigerian leader used the opportunity to appeal to eligible Nigerians to take the coronavirus vaccination “so that we can be protected from the virus.”

Nigeria received 3.92 million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine on March 2, delivered under the international Covax scheme. (NAN)

By Emmanuel Oloniruha

The National President, Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Mr David Alabi, has urged stakeholders to use the association as a vehicle for grassroots development.

Alabi was quoted making the call in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr Obiora Orji, at a two day strategic retreat organised by the association in Lagos.

Alabi said making use of ALGON as a vehicle for grassroots development required effective stakeholders’ engagement, partnership and collaboration, geared towards strengthening the capacity of the national office, Local Government Areas (LGAs) and area councils for maximum productivity.

He said that the functions of LGAs and councils, as enshrined in the Fourth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution, was huge and required corresponding innovation to tackle them.

The statement quoted the Director-General of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), Mr Ashishana Okrauru, as expressing optimism that the maiden retreat would reposition the association to take a decisive step predicated on setting best agenda for a new ALGON.

The statement also quoted the Chief of Staff to ALGON National President, Mr Itiako Ikpokpo, as saying that by rebranding and restructuring through the lessons of the retreat, there was every hope for ALGON to become more vibrant.

According to the statement, a Consultant,  Dr Chris Asoluka, in his presentation said that ALGON needed to be well focused as an institution memory for research and evidenced-based platform for development.

It said that the Secretary-General of ALGON, Hajia Binta Bello, during the event called for sustainability of the retreat to help in strengthening the association. (NAN)

By Ifeanyi Nwoko

The Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution (IPCR) foresaw the emergence of the Boko Haram insurgency way back in 2007, the Director-General of the institute, Dr Bakut Bakut, disclosed on Sunday.

Bakut, who made the disclosure at the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Forum in Abuja, said that based on its findings, the institute had advised the then administration in power to act on the discovery of the institute.

He said that the institute also discovered warning signals of the current crisis between farmers and herders.

The don said that based on the growing rate of religious intolerance and strict application of certain doctrines in the Northeast, which the institute noticed, IPCR had to alert the then administration.

“One of the things that I would like to say and I always say it with caution, is: in 2007 this institute could predict that the intolerance that we saw, particularly in terms of religion and strict application of doctrines in the Northeast, we saw it becoming a problem.

“We warned them but obviously maybe we did not warn enough and today we have what we call Boko Haram.

“The same thing we saw again in 2012, the danger of what has become the farmer-herder issues. Again we warned but again, maybe we did not warn enough.

“So, what we have now done is to make sure that we do not just warn but go into the environment and try to intervene directly.

“These are the things that we have done to make sure that between year 2000 and today we operate within the context of our mandate,” Bakut said.

Giving further insight into what the institute has done in concrete terms to ensure peace in Nigeria, the director-general said that the IPCR had prepared a National Peace Policy and handed it over to the government, which in turn presented same to the United Nations (UN).

He said that based on that policy, which Nigeria also presented to the global body, the UN Security Council passed a resolution asking other African countries to follow Nigeria’s example.

“In that period, the Federal Government under the presidency of Olusegun Obasanjo, set up a Presidential Implementation Committee on our findings and established a Presidential Implementation Plan.

“The directors of the IPCR then were working on strategies that would help solve some of the problems but something happened and that one went out.

“By 2007, when the government was going we were moved to the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“Unlike before when we sent our policy directly to the president, we now have to go through the ministry.”

Bakut noted that changes in the country’s administration and changes in the institute’s supervising body could have scuttled plans to act on the institute’s forecasts over the years. (NAN)

By Adeyemi Adeleye

Nigerian leaders and panelists, at the 2021 Obafemi Awolowo Annual Lecture, have reiterated the necessity of building a united and progressive Nigeria through massive education and a re-engineered constitution.

The webinar lecture, held on Saturday evening and chaired by Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, was to mark the 112 birthday anniversary of the late Sage and former Premier of Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

The Special Guest, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, a Diplomat and former Commonwealth Secretary-General, who noted that the current state of affairs in the country was not sustainable, emphasised the need for one Nigeria.

“There is no section or ethnic group in Nigeria that does not stand to gain from belonging to one country.

“It is in the common interest of all the ethnic groups and component parts to sustain the oneness, for progress of the country,” Anyaoku said.

He decried the growing poverty, incessant attacks, killings and displacement of people by terrorists and bandits, growing level of distrust and divisiveness undermining the cohesion and continued existence of one Nigeria.

The elder stateman, who noted that these national challenges should be effectively dealt with to make progress, however, stated that they could not be tackled with the present federal system of government.

Anyaoku said that a federal system with less dominance of the federal would bring Nigeria  back to the path of political stability and progress.

He advocated the Indian type of federal system as against the US, saying that India shared a lot of national attributes with Nigeria.

He urged the National Assembly to organise an all-inclusive national dialogue, taking into account previous national conferences to produce a consensus constitution, as only a restructured constitution would guarantee political stability and economic development.

The Sultan of Sokoto and Royal Father of the Lecture, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, who noted that the processes of Nation building always took time, said that insinuations, suspicions and provocative utterances had held the country back.

He decried the inaction of governments and the erosion of the nation’s founding father’s healing, understanding and accommodation processes among ethnic groups, while calling on the political class and religious leaders to manage social tensions.

“We can solve our problems without a stick. No problem is beyond dialogue, ” Abubakar said, while cautioning against violence and tribal wars.

He urged government to act promptly and swiftly in addressing national challenges and send strong signals to divisive elements.

The Guest Speaker, Mr Odia Ofeimun, who delivered a lecture on the theme; “Whither Nigeria? “, emphasised the necessity of education for all children and ending minority domination of the nation, to overcome her teething challenges and make progress.

Ofeimun, who stressed the need for ethnic nationalities, said that the nation had many unresolved issues such as Boko Haram, Indigenous People of Biafra, herdsmen and others, all of which had been fueling secession pressures.

“We need to discuss what belongs to us as a people. This is a country that is worth defending and we should all defend it. We need to free ethnic nationalities so that Nigeria can be free,” he said.

Emphasising the need for restructuring, Ofeimun, who called on political leaders to take responsibility, decried political financing and the widening  gap in education between the south and the north.

“There is a way of managing Nigeria such that every child will go to school. We must put all the cards on the table and discuss Nigeria. We need a less dominant centre. If we go by this, we are moving towards having a country.

“Every government should give every child education, to address some of our problems. There are so many children roaming the streets without education and hope. Every child in the north needs to go to school.

“We have to plan a country, Awolowo did it and it worked. It is important we bring all Nigerians into education like the Awolowo Education Policy did. Nobody should be left out,” he said.

In his contribution, the former Emir of Kano, Alhaji Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, said that some of Nigeria’s issues were not ethnicity or religion, but economic and governance, saying that the nation’s expensive system of government had also hindered her progress.

Wrapping up the dialogue, Soyinka observed that there was a consensus on the country requiring restructuring that would allow decentralisation and devolution of powers, adding that a lot could be done on the Constitution to allow greater autonomy for the state.

Soyinka, who said that the current system was not working and should not be allowed to continue, called for an honest and people-oriented Constitution to set the country on the path of progress.

Dr Dosunmu Awolowo, one of the daughters of the late sage, said that Obafemi Awolowo Foundation’ lecture was instituted to honour Chief Awolowo, noting that Nigerians wanted the country to work and are willing to sit together to find solutions to the nation’s challenges.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the lecture, moderated by Prof. Michael Faborode, had several eminent Nigerians, both from within and abroad emphasising the need to address our national challenges without delay. (NAN)

By Peter Okolie

A concessionaire, Topwide Consortium, has urged the Federal Government to discontinue the handover of National Theatre to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) pending the determination of the matter in court.

Topwide Consortium Project Director, Mr Chris Ogan, made the call in a statement made available to newsmen on Saturday, in Awka.

It could be recalled that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) had on Feb. 10, approved an agreement that will lead to the renovation of the National Theater, Iganmu, Lagos for N21 billion.

Subsequently, on Feb. 15, the Bankers’ Committee, led by Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Federal Government.

The Federal Government said the renovation will create thousands of jobs among other benefits.

But, Ogan said the suit it initiated over disturbance of its rights as concessionaire of the National Theatre had not been concluded, and that his firm had mobilised direct local and foreign investments in excess of $2 billion under the concession agreement.

“We are using this opportunity to reiterate our answer that the suit is very much pending and for which we have retained two commercial law Senior Advocates of Nigeria,” he said.

He said a motion for interlocutory injunction to restrain any interference with the subject of the suit filed by their lawyers was also pending before the courts.

He said the suit was filed in December 2019, with CBN, the Minister for Information, Tourism and Culture and Access Bank Plc. as some of the defendants.

“Other defendants are Herbert Wigwe representing the Bankers Committee, the Board of the National Theatre, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) and Attorney-General of the Federation.

“The case was to come up on Dec. 15, 2020, but the Federal High Court, Lagos, which is hearing the case did not sit and it later adjourned the case to March 18, 2021,” he said.

Ogan said his firm was contracted to develop the fallow lands, an eco-friendly grand mini-city housing, two five star hotels, theme park, arts arcades, office complexes and shopping malls.

“We were also contracted to develop a high rise car park and provide appropriate connections to the Lagos light rail Metro Blue Line station planned for the National Theatre Complex.

“The agreement is that upon completion of the rehabilitation, the upgraded National Theatre would be handed over to the Federal Government for the continued management by the Board of the Complex,” he said.

According to him, the Attorney-General of the Federation signed-off finally on the concession agreement on May 3, 2017 and Road Shows were organised in Lagos, Abuja, Johannesburg, Dubai, London and New York to woo investors.

However, he said, the news of a planned takeover of the National Complex and adjoining fallow lands by the CBN and the Bankers Committee came as a surprise.

“Our lawyers, on our instructions, wrote letters-dated Oct. 24, 2019, to all the concerned Federal Government agencies/agents to desist from tampering with our concession contract.

“None of the officers/agencies ever replied the letters and shunned our entreaties for meetings to clear whatever misunderstanding that informed their actions,” he said.

Ogan, therefore, called for strict compliance with due process and rule of law, over the handling of the matter.

He said forging ahead with the handover would not only result in contempt of the courts, but also an embarrassment  of Nigeria, before international investors. (NAN)