UN Abuja House to be completed before next anniversary, FG assures

THE Federal Government, on Wednesday, promised to strive very hard to complete and handover the United Nations House, Abuja to serve the purpose of being the Common Office for its agencies before the next anniversary of the UN.

Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello gave this assurance in Abuja during the signing ceremony of the FCTA/UN 2017 Annual Work Plan.

Malam Bello, who described the signing ceremony as a very important milestone in the relationship between the FCT administration and the UN, said it was a demonstration that the UN was fully committed to doing good works in the FCT.

He promised that adequate budgetary provisions would be made in the 2017 budget to accelerate realization of set targets and bridge the deficiency gaps in performance in the previous years.

According to him, “we definitely will make adequate budgetary provisions to match your funding for 2017. We will also try to make sure that the budget is well funded so that work goes on.

“It is something we take seriously and we are actually looking towards creating a small unit in my office headed by somebody senior enough that coordinates all our relationships with the various UN agencies so that it becomes easier to take decisions faster.

“Somebody from my office will always be part of it so that we can fast track the process, based on your recommendation”, he assured.

While acknowledging that previous issues being jointly handled by the FCTA and the UN remained beneficial, Malam Bello stressed that newer projects would likewise be given priority consideration due to the impact they would have on the FCT.

In a statement by the Deputy Director/Chief Press Secretary (CPS), Muhammad Hazat Sule, a copy of which was made available to the Tribune Online in Abuja, remarked that urban solid waste management; slum upgrade and smart city were other issues that would be given attention in subsequent annual work plans between the two bodies.

Earlier, the UN Representative Coordinator, Mr Edward Kallon thanked the FCTA for its efforts at reviewing the UN Under three Annual Work plan for signing, adding that implementation of the activities has started already.

He described the signing as an attestation of the FCTA’s commitment to nurture its cooperation with the UN for sustainable socio-economic development in the FCT.

Mr Kallon expressed hope that some of the challenges that hindered the implementation of the previous work plans would be adequately addressed.