Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, and Group Managing Director, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Mele Kyari, announced this during the inspection of the project in Ajaokuta, Kogi State.

The AKK pipeline project, flagged off in July this year, is 85 per cent funded by the Bank of China and Sinosure, a Chinese export and credit insurance corporation, while the Federal Government, represented by NNPC, provides 15 per cent equity.

Brentex/China Petroleum Pipeline Bureau-CPP Consortia and Oilserve/China First Highway Engineering Company-CFHEC Consortia were announced as the Engineering Procurement and Construction contractors for the project.

Speaking on the side-lines of the project inspection on Tuesday, Ahmed said, “We have to give a sovereign guarantee to the lender so that the loan is concluded.

“I’m glad to say that the loan has been concluded and very soon, the disbursement will start.”

She said the project was being delivered on time and on course, adding that despite the slowdown in economic activities, the project had not slowed down and work had not stopped for one day.

“We are glad that gas is being piped across this line from Ajaokuta to Kaduna to Kano. This will help to revive industries in those parts of the country and create jobs,” Ahmed said.

On his part, Kyari said nothing would stop the project except force majeure or an act of God.

This, he said, was because the Bank of China had approved the loan and the project would continue till its financial close.

“This project has not stopped for one day since it started. We will complete this project on time, on schedule and on cost. We will deliver this project,” he said.

On the composition of the loan for the project, the NNPC boss said, “We borrowed money, 85 per cent of the total project scope as loan and then we provided 15 per cent as equity from NNPC’s own resources.

“So the 85 per cent that will come from our Chinese partners will be available for draw down.”

He said security was being built around the pipeline, which include the deployment of optic fibre lines that would run parallel to the pipeline such that at any infraction, the corporation would know about it and respond.

“More importantly we are using the best of technology so that we will bury the pipes deeper than normal and we don’t think that there is any high level of risk associated with this pipeline,” Kyari said.

On repayment of the Chinese loan, he said it was part of the loan plan, adding that as soon as gas starts flowing through the line, the revenue from it including existing revenue streams would be used to pay the loan.

Senator Adeyemi in his contribution stated that while his State Governor had awarded contracts for the renovation of schools, Abia is governed by drunkards. He then went ahead to say that the Governor of Abia State is a "champagne drinking Governor".

Our initial response was to totally ignore the story because it is difficult to believe that a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria will reduce both himself and the institution of the Senate to such gutter level, but having confirmed that indeed, the Senator made such comments, a response has become imperative.

Our view is that the Senator is either suffering from a protracted case of mental illness or is battling with occasional fits of schizophrenia which manifests in making careless, dishonorable, unrelated and incoherent statements.

This conclusion becomes irresistible judging from the total disconnect between the matter being discussed by the Senate and the comments made by the Senator as they affect the Governor.

If Senator Adeyemi was of sound mind, he should have known that when it comes to education, Abia is miles ahead of his home State of Kogi. Indeed, not just in education but in every single area of development.

If Senator Adeyemi had his faculties intact, he should have known that under the watch of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, Abia State has maintained first position in WAEC Examinations in the entire country for five years now.

Kogi has not come close to the first 20. Never!

Ever since @GovernorIkpeazu became Governor in Abia State, there hasn't been one single case of attack on any school anywhere in Abia State.

Senator Smart Adeyemi is clearly non compos mentis.

If not, he would have known that while his State is still awarding contracts for the renovation of schools, Abia had long completed more than 500 classroom projects scattered across schools in Abia State, and still counting.

It is obvious that Senator Adeyemi is battling with acute dementia and has lost every of his instincts as a journalist. If not, he would have known that just last week, the National Bureau of Statistics adjudged Abia State as No. 3 on the list of States that attracted foreign direct investments, with only Lagos and Abuja ahead of Abia State in the entire country.

It takes much more than drinking champagne to guide a state from zero foreign investnents to No. 3 in the country.

Kogi State featured prominently on the list of states that attracted zero investments. It is only a state that is peaceful and secure that has the capacity to attract such cross border investments.

Some weeks ago, the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC) branded Kogi State unsafe for their consistent lip service to the COVID-19 pandemic. Senator Adeyemi was never heard to have either responded to that statement by the @NCDCgov or raise it on the floor of the Senate.

Yet, he has the effontery, or rather, the buffonrey, to abuse a Governor whose state has maintained one of the lowest COVID-19 fatality rates in the country through proactive measures to protect our people.

Between a Governor who has consistently denied the existence of Covid and the one who has put in place measures to protect his people, one wonders who is the drunkard.

Let us even interrogate the statements of Senator Adeyemi further.

According to him, his comments against Governor Okezie Ikpeazu were in response to some comments allegedly made by the Senate Minority Leader, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe against the Governor of Kogi State in a social media post.

This response, without more, confirms that Senator Adeyemi is mentally unstable.

If Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe made negative comments against the Governor of Kogi State, the proper approach was to respond to the Senator directly.

Governor Okezie Ikpeazu cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, be vicariously liable for the comments allegedly made by Senator Abaribe.

Interestingly, Senator Abaribe clearly denied ever making such comments against the Kogi State Governor.

For the avoidance of doubt, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu does not take alcoholic drinks and he is shocked at the schizophrenic outburts of Senator Adeyemi whom he has never met nor had any dealings whatsoever with officially nor privately.

Governor Ikpeazu makes it abundantly clear to the Senator that save for the parliamentary privilege which he unfortunately enjoys, Senator Adeyemi would have been put to the strictest proof of his wild and senseless comments before a Court of Law.

Governor Ikpeazu concludes by advising the Senator to quickly seek psychiatric help before his case becomes unmanageable.

Sir Onyebuchi Ememanka

Chief Press Secretary to the Governor.

23rd February, 2021.