News Desk
The Director-General/ Chief Executive officer of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) Mr. Michael Ohiani will on Monday deliver a paper at the 63rd Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) holding at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja.
In a letter sent to the ICRC chief executive and jointly signed on behalf of the National Executive Council and members of the Nigerian Bar Association, by the NBA President Barrister Yakubu Chonoko Maikyau, SAN and Chairman of the Conference Planning Committee Mazi Afam Osigwe SAN, he was requested to speak at a technical session of the conference themed “Prioritizing Infrastructure Development in the National Agenda’ holding on Day 1, Monday 28 August 2023 at 11.40am-1:00pm.
The letter reads: “On behalf of the National Executive Council and members of the Nigerian Bar Association (“the NBA”), I write to formally invite you to speak at the 63rd Annual General Conference of the NBA (“the Conference”), scheduled to hold from 25 August to 1 September 2023 at MKO Abiola Stadium, Abuja.
“The Conference is the leading event of the NBA and a central feature on the annual calendar of the Nigerian legal profession. It presents legal practitioners in Nigeria with a unique opportunity to interrogate issues affecting the profession and society and to continue to seek innovative ways of advancing justice delivery and providing value-added legal solutions to their clients and the environment within which members of the Association operate.
“With the enviable reputation of being the largest annual gathering of lawyers anywhere in the world, this year’s Conference is anticipated to have not less than 18,000 delegates in attendance, including lawyers, magistrates, judges and justices of all the superior courts of record in Nigeria. Indeed, the Conference is the largest gathering of business, political and thought leaders on the African Continent. The theme for this year’s conference is “GETTING IT RIGHT – Charting the Course for Nigeria’s Nation Building”.
“The conference will focus on three main sub-themes: Economy, Administration of Justice, and Security, each of which has been allocated a day in the conference; Day 1 (Mon. 28 August), Day 2 (Tuesday 29 August), and Day 3 (Wednesday 30 August) respectively.
“We therefore most respectfully invite you to be a speaker at a technical session of the conference themed “Prioritizing Infrastructure Development in the National Agenda’. The session is scheduled to be held on Day 1, Monday 28 August 2023 at 11.40am-1:00pm. Members of the panel for the session are Mr. J.A. Michael Ohiani (Director General, ICRC) Mr. Wolemi Esan (Deputy Managing Partner, Olaniwun Ajayi LP), Prof. Gbolahan Elias SAN (Partner, G.Elias) , Professor Bolaji Aluko (Fmr. VC Federal University, Otuoke), and the session will be moderated by Mr. Mohammed Adelodun (Partner, YC Maikyau & Co)”, the letter stated.
Industry watchers at the weekend praised the NBA executive council for extending invitation to the ICRC DG stating that the council couldn’t have made a better choice in view of Ohiani’s achievements since he assumed office as the DG/CEO of the Commission. According to them, under Ohiani’s leadership, the federal government’s commitment to Public private partnership (PPP) as a means of funding the country’s infrastructure projects and closing the gap in infrastructure development have received massive boost.
All over the world, Public Private Partnership (PPP) methodology has been widely accepted as a preferred procurement model for achieving inclusive growth and developmental objectives.
Shortly after his assumption of office, president Bola Tinubu reaffirmed his administration’s commitment and support for PPP and this has led to remarkable progress in key infrastructure projects. During the last administration of president Muhammadu Buhari, the ICRC facilitated a number of PPP projects with the Approval of the federal executive council (FEC). These include, the Lekki Deep Sea Port, the Airport Modernization Project, the Nigeria Air project as well as the Highway Development and Management Initiative (HDMI) Project which targets the development of 12 road corridors across the 6 Geo-political zones.
In 2019, the commission established a PPP Capacity Building arm known as the Nigeria Institute of Infrastructure and Public Private Partnership (NII3P). it focuses on PPP training for MDAs such as Basic, Intermediate and Advanced PPP Courses. Others include short Infrastructure Development Courses, the APMG – CP3P (Examination) course, and the Master of Business Administration (MBA) in PPP; in collaboration with the Malaysian University of Science and Technology.
Mindful of the importance of the economy of states, the ICRC is also supporting states through peer review mechanisms to ensure they also undertake their PPP projects in line with best practices.
Sam Otuonye
