FG To Abuja-Lokoja-Benin Road Contractors: Sign Contract In Two Days Or Forfeit Job.

The federal government has set a deadline of Thursday 25 and Friday 26 April 2024 for the construction companies working on the Abuja-Lokoja-Benin highway to sign a N870b contract, saying that failure to meet the deadline will result in their removal from the project.


The minister of works, David Umahi, said that the previous 480km-long project contract, which was under the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPCL) Tax Credit Scheme, has expired, necessitating the new contract.

He however gave conditions to the signing of the contract that the contractor must work the basic rate, adhere to the timetable, deploy men and equipment on three sections of their stretch

Umahi handed down the warning on Thursday in Abuja during his meeting with the contractors handling the Abuja-Lokoja-Benin highway where expressed the government’s dissatisfaction with the contractors’ repeated delays and non-compliance with the contractual timetable, stating that Nigerian road users have suffered enough.

The contractors present at the meeting were Mothercat Nigeria Ltd, CGC Nigeria Ltd, Reynolds Construction Company (RCC), and Dantata and Sawoe Construction Company Nigeria Ltd.

The contractors in attendance at the meeting are Mothercat Nigeria Ltd, CGC Nigeria Ltd, Reynolds Construction Company (RCC) and Dantata and Sawoe Construction Company Nigeria Ltd.

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.

According to him, the contractors accepted the review without objections, leading to the issuance of contract award letters, however, weeks after accepting the offer, most contractors have yet to respond, except for RCC, which raised certain concerns.

The Minister said upon assuming office, he discovered that the total contract sum for the 284km Lokoja-Benin road was initially N121b, but it was later reviewed by the last administration to over N870b, which he believed was excessive.

This led to his refusal to present the Certificate of No Objections to the Federal Executive Council (FEC), he said adding that after conducting an inspection tour of the road, he found that some sections could not support asphalt overlay.

As a result, the project was re-scoped after several months of meetings with the contractors and it was decided that concrete overlay would be used on the new lanes, while asphalt would be used on the other sections.

This led to the retention of the old cost of over N870b which the contractors signed after assuring that they could do the job, he added, saying, “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, staying on a job for 17 years that is what is playing out.

“The position of the government is that if you are not signing the contract between today (Thursday) and tomorrow, you will forgo the jobs, you can go to court. We will not enter into any conditions for negotiations.

“This contract is over N2b per kilometre, what else do you want ?

“If you are signing the contract, you sign it along the basic rates, and timetable and deploy in three sections or I will terminate the job. Enough of this insult, enough of this politics, enough of playing with the psyche of the people”.

The Minister reiterated the directive for the Ministry to profile all ongoing road projects across the country within seven days to assess the qualifications and number of contractors’ personnel and equipment on site.

He said it has become necessary to evaluate the capacity of contractors handling Federal Government road projects to ensure the successful completion of the projects.

Despite some contractors requesting additional time to review the new contract, the Minister remained firm, saying, “Sign the contract or leave the job; you don’t need to do the job”.

https://thenationonlineng.net/fg-to-abuja-lokoja-benin-road-contractors-sign-contract-in-two-days-or-forfeit-job/#:~:text=The%20federal%20government%20has%20set,their%20removal%20from%20the%20project.

Umahi might be removed, those who know their Jobs don't last in Nigeria

Beta minister I just thank God it was this man Tinubu chose as work minister he as proven to be exceptional.

Damn

That Benin road is bad abeg, and there are way too many trailers and tankers on it.

Umahi is super impressive. More reason to put square pegs in square holes.
The FG must by law start attaching portfolios to nominees for ministerial position when sending them to the NA for confirmation . The idea of inviting a medical doctor to head Ministry of Works should be long gone.

cliped:
Proactive Wike. Well done sir

it's called ultimatum not threat.

cliped:
Proactive Wike. Well done sir

It's necessary

Lol


Just like that?
2days
This government is taking us for granted and i'll keep saying it

nice one

Infrastructure
Infrastructure
Infrastructure


God Bless President Bola Tinubu
God Bless Federal Republic of Nigeria

Or clowns Misplaced Priority are here

I think the problem here is the contractors are refusing to adjust to the new realities on ground at the federal ministry of works.We have never had a compete civil engineer who is a former governor that knows how to use political power as the minister of works.

Visit Ebonyi you will appreciate this man on infrastructure. QED

cliped:
Proactive Wike. Well done sir

umahi not wike but na wike style sha

People way know Umahi go comment Hallelujah but some of us who knows him, know how self centered he is.

Nice move sir

It's un4tunate that Umahi is in this administration.
700km coastal highway costs 10× what it costs in a fellow Africa country. All projects that Dave Umahi is handling are 5 to 10 times overpriced, because he has to make money to support tinubu in 2027, even though tinubu will not win, even in Lagos.

Too bad!

How I wish this man was the minister of power
Wetin we for this town Dey go through for AEDC hand no be small

Minister of health should be doctor, cbn should be economist that is where we will get it right. Weldone engr dave

" a country where contractor dictate what happens"

Nigeria


A typical example of a haphazard country

Nemesis0147:
How I wish this man was the minister of power
Wetin we for this town Dey go through for AEDC hand no be small

I retreat a little about the minister of power when I read this article

https://punchng.com/fg-to-unbundle-11-discos-orders-sale-of-four/

Nigeria electricity debacle is a foundation, am not such the country can get it right

The overworking minister is working.

2B naira per km
Wtf

SadiqBabaSani:
Umahi might be removed, those who know their Jobs don't last in Nigeria

Who will remove him?

playfulvivo:
Visit Ebonyi you will appreciate this man on infrastructure. QED

Where he built an airport in a state like ebonyi

Lolzzzzz 🤣

Pharaoh4rin:
It's un4tunate that Umahi is in this administration.
700km coastal highway costs 10× what it costs in a fellow Africa country. All projects that Dave Umahi is handling are 5 to 10 times overpriced, because he has to make money to support tinubu in 2027, even though tinubu will not win, even in Lagos.

Too bad!

Trash as usual......

They should pursue CGC and Dantata out of this job. They've been doing substandard job. Bring in Setraco and CCECC.

Pharaoh4rin:
It's un4tunate that Umahi is in this administration.
700km coastal highway costs 10× what it costs in a fellow Africa country. All projects that Dave Umahi is handling are 5 to 10 times overpriced, because he has to make money to support tinubu in 2027, even though tinubu will not win, even in Lagos.

Too bad!

Yinmu. Tinubu will win with a landslide in Lagos in 2027. Now that we have seen the nyanmuris for who they are, those who opposed Tinubu the first time have learnt their lessons.

Raynald:
2B naira per km
Wtf

I agree with you. Like wth?
If dey don't want they can go.
Other capable contractors will do the job.
Minister did well by calling their bluff

Fact