President Buhari on Saturday in Lafia, Nasarawa State, commissioned the newly completed Federal Secretariat Complex, named after Justice Sidi Dauda Bage, a retired Justice of the Supreme Court, and current Emir of Lafia.

More than a decade after the contracts were originally awarded, in a number of States, the Buhari Administration is fully funding and completing these very important Federal Secretariat projects.

In addition to the Nasarawa Federal Secretariat commissioned by the President today, the Administration has also recently completed Federal Secretariat projects in Awka, Anambra State; Gusau, Zamfara State; and Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

The Federal Secretariat, Lafia, sits on 10.9 hectares of land, along Jos Road, in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital. It can accommodate over 2,000 staff of Federal MDAs, who until now have had to depend on rented office accommodation across the city, with the attendant effects on efficiency, comfort and operational cost.

With this commissioning, Federal MDAs in Lafia, Nasarawa State are now guaranteed access to working space in a modern edifice, equipped with about 500 office spaces, one Exhibition Hall, two Multi-purpose Halls, one Conference Hall, four Committee Rooms, Staff Canteen, a Standby Power Generating Set, a Solar Energy System, and parking space for more than 300 vehicles.

As part of the maintenance-focused thrust of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Facility Managers have been appointed for the Federal Secretariat Complexes across the country, including this newly commissioned one.

The appointment of Facility Managers is in line with the Buhari Administration’s new National Policy on the Maintenance of Public Buildings, which has been given legal backing with the Presidential Executive Order 11 of 2022 on Public Buildings Maintenance. In addition, the Head of the Federal Civil Service has since approved the establishment of a Department for Federal Public Asset Maintenance, within the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing.

According to the Honourable Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, these Facility Management Contracts for the Federal Secretariats have already provided jobs for more than a thousand persons, in addition to various other economic benefits.