N870B ABUJA-LOKOJA-BENIN ROAD: CONTRACTORS GET ULTIMATUM TO SIGN NEW CONTRACT 26-04-24
By Sadiq Aminu The Federal Government yesterday gave the contractors handling the Abuja-Lokoja-Benin highway till today to sign the reviewed N870 billion contract.
It threatened to stop the contractors by Monday if they failed to meet the deadline.
To show its seriousness, government also directed the audit of the personnel and equipment of the contractors handling its projects nationwide within seven days.
Works Minister Dave Umahi stated these during a meeting with officials of the Abuja-Lokoja-Benin highway contractors– Mothercat Nigeria Ltd, CCECC, CGC Nigeria Ltd, Reynolds Construction Company (RCC) and Dantata and Sawoe Construction Company Nigeria Ltd– in Abuja.
“The contractors handling the sections of the I-IV of Lokoja-Benin, Obajana-Benin roads in Kogi and Edo states are to immediately sign the new contract as reviewed under the Renewed Hope administration of President Bola Tinubu or face the termination of their jobs by the Federal Ministry of Works in accordance with condition of service, ’’ said Umahi in a statement by his Media Adviser, Uchenna Orji.
Umahi explained that the contract for the project which was under the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPCL) Tax Credit Scheme, expired, thereby necessitating the new contract.
He listed adherence to timeline, deployment of men and equipment on sections of the road as some conditions that must be met by the contractors before signing the new agreement.
The minister said government was dissatisfied with the contractors’ repeated delays and non-compliance with the contractual timetable.
According to him, most of contractors who accepted the reviewed contract and collected letters of award, developed cold-feet weeks after.
Umahi explained that upon assuming office, he found out that the total contract sum for the highway ,which was N121billion, was reviewed by the last administration to over N870b which he believed was excessive.
This, according to him, led to his hesistance to present the Certificate of No Objections to the Federal Executive Council (FEC).He, however, said that after conducting an inspection of the road, he found that some sections could not support asphalt overlay.
Umahi added that after several months of meetings with the contractors it was decided that concrete overlay would be used on the new lanes while asphalt would be used on the other sections.
This, he explained, led to the retention of the old cost of over N870b.
He added: “The arrogance of contractors in the country is annoying, a country where contractors are dictating what happens is insulting.
“In the Ministry of Works, we have contractors with 17 contracts who have no personnel or equipment to do the job, they are just playing politics and staying on a job for 17 years. That is what is playing out.