The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has threatened to revoke sections I-IV Lokoja-Benin, Obajana Junction Benin roads in Kogi and Edo states should the contractors handling the project fail to sign the reviewed contract.
He also set a deadline of Thursday, April 25 and Friday, April 26, 2024, for the construction companies working on the Abuja-Lokoja-Benin highway to sign a N870bn contract, saying that failure to meet the deadline will result in their removal from the project.
The works minister said that the previous 480km-long project contract, which was under the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Tax Credit Scheme, has expired, necessitating the new contract.
Umahi issued the fresh threat during a meeting with the contractors in his office at the ministry headquarters on Thursday in Abuja.
The minister had in March issued a similar threat during a visit to the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki.
He had expressed displeasure over the slow pace of work at Benin-Ekpoma-Auchi-Okpella-Okene-Lokoja Eoad.
A statement by the minister’s media aide, Uchenna Orji, said representatives of the contractor’s messers, Mothercat Nigeria Ltd, CGC Nigeria Ltd, Reynolds Construction Company, and Dantata and Sawoe Construction Company Nigeria Ltd attended the latest meeting with the minister.
The minister also directed his ministry’s staff to carry out a comprehensive audit of the ongoing projects within seven days to determine the status of work done and the capacity of personnel and equipment being used by the contractors.
The decision to issue a new contract was due to the behaviour of foreign contractors, according to Umahi, who revealed that the recently reviewed contract underwent due diligence, and the augmentation was approved.
He noted that they were part of the process of re-scoping and reviewing the contract specifications but that they failed to sign the review contract documents after signing that they would do the job based on the new specification.
Umahi said, ”The project was initially N121bn, but before the administration of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu, the project was already reviewed to about over N870bn.
“When I came in as Minister, I saw that the project was over-bloated, and I refused to take the No Objection to FEC. I had to go through the road myself, and I realized that some sections of the road could not survive asphalt.
“So we started meetings that took us over five months with all the contractors, and in the meetings, we agreed to re-scope the project. So we re-scoped the project, and we said okay, the new lanes should be done on concrete and the other ones done on asphalt.
“So, we kept the contracts up and we all signed the documents and based on signing the documents, we took it to BPP and from BPP we went to FEC, and before we went to FEC, we demanded them to approve that they can do the job. They all gave us letters of approval.”
He wondered why contractors were given jobs without having the required manpower and equipment to execute, and warned that henceforth, any contractor signing a contract must sign alongside the basic rate and timeline.
The minister further said, ”The position of the government is that if you are not signing the contracts between today and tomorrow, you will forgo the jobs. You can go to court. We will not enter into any condition for further negotiation.
He declared that the Ministry would not allow any contractor to hold the nation to ransom or to impose their conditions on the Ministry.
Umahi said, “If you don’t want to work, leave the job. It’s not compulsory for you to be the one doing the job. You can not be on-site, and the people are dying.
“The vehicles are falling down, and you’re playing politics with the lives of the people. And we fold our hands and leave you for what? You can’t be on site….So if you are not working, pack your things out of that site.”
