…as Umahi vows drag contractors of abandoned projects to ICPC
NOSA EGHAGHA
ABUJA, Nigeria – The Federal Government has issued a 14-day ultimatum to contractors handling roads projects to return to site or risk revocation of such contract.
While briefing State House Correspondents at the Presidential Villa after meeting with President Bola Tinubu, the Minister of Works, Senator Dave Umahi, disclosed that the plans are underway to drag contractors who have abandoned thier projects and those ganging up against the use of concrete pavement for road construction to the anti crime agencies, including the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other related offences, ICPC.
“We have directed the contractors to go and start work. After 14 days as allowed in the contract, any contractor that fails to be on site doing permanent work will have his contract terminated. That’s what the law says.” He said
He re-emphasised that “There are some elements within that are also fighting me, who are also benefitting from the system and that is the greatest problem we have and I just pretended. I will flush those elements out and send them to ICPC to handle them because nobody can hold this country to ransom. So I’m giving them the last chance to conform to what we help Mr. President to reset the country.
“Then we’re also leverage on the contract we signed, it’s 14 days notice we are going to give. I’ve had more than 10 different meetings with contractors where we discussed this. We developed the design, we even developed the cost of doing concrete from the first principle; how much is cement, and the cement factories, the Dangote, the BUA, have agreed to give special discount to our contractors who are going to engage on concrete road pavement, and many contractors are already doing it.
“Not all the contractors are in this gang up, many contractors have come to sign addendum, doing the road pavements. Those who are meeting are going to be losers and before them they will see that we do the job and we will do it very well.”
The Minister, who vowed that he will not succumb to the gang-up and blackmail from contractors, said that President Tinubu has given him the support for the use of concrete in reinforcement.
Umahi said that some contractors have keyed into the policy just as major cement producers have agreed to discount prices for such government road builders.
He also highlighted the advantages of cement roads over asphalt/bitumen, including cheaper costs and the need to encourage local production of cement against importation of bitumen.
Umahi further warned contractors against the dodgy attitude of securing about 20 projects but end up deploying as few as two units of equipment to site.
On the issue of the East/West road, Umahi said “Let me also announce to Nigerians that Mr. President is a listening President. All the interventions we requested in our East-West Road in Benin-Sapele road, in Lokoja, in Shandam Lafia, you know, the bridge that has broken, in the two bridges in Enugu that got broken, in a Owerri-Onitsha road that got broken at two points. The third mainland bridge resurfacing and the underneath work. I can’t finish all, they have all been approved by Mr. president.
“So we have set up Taskforce in all the locations where these approval that were made by Mr president to ensure that within three months we would conclude all that is needed based on their approval.
“And let me also announce that we have Taskforce that would supervise for contractors, all the way from Lokoja to Benin, to Warri, Bayelsa, Rivers State and Cross River. We are also deploying consultants to supervise our roads. Our engineers will also be sites to learn from experience. Mr. President has also given approval.
“I want to also warned contractors, there are some contractors that are quoting for jobs and they have two equipment on site. It can no longer be the same. We have minimum requirements of equipment on site for a particular work. And if you don’t have it you will leave the site. Nobody can hold this country to ransom.
“Our local contractors are advised to wake up. I did it in a Ebonyi State, every civil service became an engineer our stakeholders became an engineer. We have to do it again and again and again. But we will welcome our expatriates contractors. We want them to respect us, to respect our culture. Because what is being done here cannot be done outside this country.
“Many of the contractors that NNPC paid have not gone to site, some got N33 billion and have not been to sites. And I want the stakeholders to know that it is about our country, it’s about our children and this is very important.”
