The Executive Council of the Federation, otherwise known as FEC, will tomorrow (Wednesday) perform its traditional weekly ritual of contract awards bazaar, and approval of payments for contracts already awarded.

President Goodluck Jonathan and his council of ministers, a presidency source said, will spend more time discussing and approving contracts for no fewer than 47 projects and less time on deliberating on pressing national issues.

Most of the memoranda billed for discussion at the meeting concern requests for approval of contracts for consultancy services, construction jobs, review of claims and variation orders as well as extension of subsisting consultancies related to electricity generation and transmission projects under the National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP).

Mr Jonathan, the Times has learnt, will personally bring request for the awards of 27 contracts including those for the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) which appears a practical demonstration of the present administration’s commitment to remove all bottlenecks to the realization of its agenda in the power sector in the New Year.

Other proposals are in respects of various projects in the aviation, finance, health, petroleum resources, transport, water resources, works, communication technology, power as well as lands, housing and environment ministries.

The list of the contracts slated for approval, seen by the Times, includes variation on NIPP engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the Afam-Ikot Ekpene 330KV double circuit transmission line (Lot 4T); consultancy services contract for transmission line (NIPP Lot 5T) and consultancy services for the residual scope of work on the Ihovbor and Sapele power plants.

Proposals for variation orders would be for those involving EPC contracts for the Sapele Power station (NIPP Lot 6); telecommunication and tele-protection project (NIPP Lot 12T); scope changes and claims on EPC contract for construction of 132KV Kukwaba-Gwagwalda-Apo transmission lines and associated substations (NIPP Lot 15T); 330KV single circuit transmission line (NIPP Lots 19-2T and 19-3T); EPC contract on 330 and 132KV substations at Aja Alagbon and Lekki (NIPP Lot 13T); extension of consultancy services agreement for gas transmission line and metering station projects for Ihovbor and Sapele power plants (lots 1 and 4); consultancy contract extension for NIPP L ots 19-1T, 19-2T, 19-3T and 19-4T as well as EPC contract for New haven 9th Mile-Nsukka 132KV DC transmission line NIPP Lot 21-2T.

Requests for contract payments include those for compensation for four transmission line projects; settlement of account on terminated projects consultancy service contract on transmission line (NIPP Lots 8-1T, 8-2T, 8-3T, 8-4T and 8-5T; cost of raising funds to finance the relocation of Sapele power station project site (NIPP Lot 6P) and payment of claims on Ikot Ekpene-Ugwuaji-New Haven 330KV transmission line and 330KV Ugwuaji substations.

Requests for extension of subsisting consultancy services contracts include those for transmission line (NIPP Lots 1T-4, 9T, 10T); distribution lines in Abuja, Benin, Eko, Enugu, Ibadan, Ikeja, Jos, Yola, Kano, Kaduna and Port Harcourt zones; construction of Olorunsogo (Papalnato) combines cycle power plant; consultancy service for NIPP Lots 21-1T and 21-2T; transmission line NIPP Lot 5T and 18T and supervision contracts for NIPP Lots 20T and 14T.

The other requests for approval cover contracts for consultancy services for stages 1 & 2 of the New Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) headquarters building in Abuja; procurement, installation and commissioning of equipment for five airports; direct procurement of additional heat proximity clothing for firemen at the airports; operation, maintenance and staff training for Wupa Basin sewage treatment plant in Abuja; procurement of contraceptive commodities by the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) and direct procurement of anti-retroviral drugs for the Federal Ministry of Health.

Others include construction of new Federal Government secretariats in each of the country’s six geo-political zones; construction of the National Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) head office at Oko, Benin City; construction of transmission lines and substations for Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) PLC and construction of Phase 2 of Ogwuashi-Uku Multi-Purpose Dam in Delta State as well as repairs of the breached Goronyo Dam Emergency Spillway in Sokoto state.

The completion of construction work on Nkari Dam in Akwa Ibom State;additional works on the rehabilitation of 9th Mile-Enugu-Port Harcourt dual carriageway in Enugu/Abia state to address the gully erosion in the area; construction of section 1 of the Emuohua-Akukwotera-Abuja-Kolo-Otuoke Road/bridges and Emuohua-Agba-Ndele-Abuja junction roads in Bayelsa state and rehabilitation of Enugu-Abakaliki Road in Enugu/Ebonyi states and rehabilitation of Ogoja-Ikom Roads in Cross River as well as construction of the National Information Technology Centre, Abuja are the other contracts expected to receive approval of the FEC tomorrow.