All lingering projects in N’Delta to be completed -Akpabio

The Federal Government has said up to 9,000 abandoned projects in Niger Delta will be completed by the Major General Muhammadu Buhari government.

The Minister of Niger Delta, Sen. Godswill Akpabio, who disclosed this on Wednesday after the Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja, said the government would also build nine housing estates in the region.

He added that the FEC meeting presided over by Buhari approved the projects, including skill acquisition centres that would be built in each of the states in the region.

The minister said the Niger Delta Development Commission was being repositioned for better performance.

He said, “We briefed the council today on the number of people that are so far being empowered.

“About 1,600 people have been empowered; some of them with different skills through the skill acquisition programmes. We are building one skill acquisition centre, one per state in the Niger Delta.

“Many of them are at 80 or 90 per cent stage of completion. It encompasses about 88 units. So, it is almost like a technical college with accommodation and other facilities.

“We are also positioning the NDDC to focus on legacy projects to leave behind something for Niger Deltans.

“We also hope to complete the over 9,000 projects that are lying fallow in the region for the benefit of the people.

“We talked about what is going on in terms of remediation, aside from the Ogoni clean-up. “

The Minister of State, Federal Capital Territory, Ramatu Aliyu, also told reporters that she briefed the council about the plan of the FCT administration to provide 5,000 new housing units in the area.