The Federal Government has announced the termination of the Section 1 Kano-Maiduguri road contract.
The road was awarded to Dantata and Sawoe Ltd in 2007 due to the effluxion of time.
The Minister of Works, Engr. David Umahi, stated this in a statement issued on Saturday by his Special Adviser on Media, Uchenna Orji, and made available to newsmen.
Umahi assured the Bauchi State Governor of immediate intervention on the flood-damaged section of the Kano-Maiduguri federal road within Bauchi State, which was cut off by a recent heavy downpour.
The minister said that as part of immediate measures, he has directed a technical team from the Ministry to move to the site to evaluate the damage and report back so the Ministry can procure an emergency solution to alleviate the inconveniences faced by road users, especially the people of Malori-Guskuri community in Katsina Local Government Area of Bauchi State.
During the flood, livelihoods were severely affected by the destruction.
“I’m directing the Director of Highway Rehabilitation to liaise with the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Works to immediately deploy a technical team to evaluate what can be done. It’s very unfortunate that when a job is completed by contractors, we don’t even enjoy the road for five years before we are back to square one.
“That’s why I’ve been saying that this issue of a one-year liability period is not desirable because every badly executed job can last for one year, but it cannot last for five years.
“So we are going to request the contractor that did the job, Mothercart Ltd, to join that team and find out why the road had to cut into two as reported to us today. That is Section Three of the Kano-Maiduguri road.”
Speaking during a performance review meeting with Dangote Group of Companies, BUA Group of Companies, and Mainstream Energy Solutions on road projects handled under the Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme held at the Ministry’s headquarters, the Minister said plans were underway to review the liability period for all federal government projects to ensure durability and value for money.
He highlighted the progress made so far in funding critical projects under the Tax Credit Scheme and called for more concerted efforts by all contractors handling projects under the tax credit scheme to complete all awarded projects in record time, as these projects are within the economic corridors of the nation.
He said that going forward, there would be an agreement on milestone completion and timetable for the various ongoing projects under the Tax Credit Scheme.
“So my position as the Minister of Works is that everybody must take responsibility. We will no longer fold our hands and allow the projects we have awarded and even reviewed to continue to linger. Nigerians are suffering on these roads, and President Ahmed Bola Tinubu is doing everything possible, giving the road sector special attention.
He called for more commitment from all funding partners, the ministry, and the contractors and asked for patience from Nigerians.
“So we call for patience, partnership, and patriotism. The President means well for this nation. We must play our part, and this is very important. To our contractors, every staff member of the Ministry of Works, and myself, we all must sit up and play our part to support the divine vision of Mr. President to retake our country.”
“The following projects are handled under the Tax Credit Scheme, and some of them have suffered delays due to obsolete prices, but all such projects are being reviewed to increase the pace of work.
The projects are:
Dangote: the 35 km Apapa-Owonronshoki Expressway in Lagos State, the 38 km section of Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road dualization, the 49.577 km Dikwa-Gamboru-Ngala road in Borno State, the construction of Nnamdi Azikiwe road (western bypass) in Kaduna State, the 49.153 km Bama-Banki road in Borno State, the reconstruction of 105 km Obelle-Ilaro-Papalanto-Shagamu Road dualization, the reconstruction of 54.239 km Deep Seaport in Lagos State, the 65.5 km Afikpo-Okigwe road in Ebonyi and Imo States being procured, and the 53.7 km side lanes for the Lekki Deep Seaport in Lagos State being procured;
BUA: the 20 km of roads in each of the three sections of Lokoja-Benin Highway, the 17.6 km section of Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road (with more 3 km to be included at the Kano axis), the 132.5 km Kano-Kongollam in Kano, Jigawa, and Katsina States, the 130 km Bode Sadu-Kaiama road, 42 km Eyenkorin-Offa road, the 73 km Lafiaji-Bacita road, and the 37 km Okuta-Kenu road all in Kwara State;
Mainstream: the 76.586 km Malando-Ngasike-Wara road in Kebbi State, the 45.13 km Sabon Gari-Yuni-Auna Road in Magami LGA of Niger State, and the asphalt overlay of Mokwa-Nasarawa road in Niger State;
MTN: the dualization of 107 km Enugu-Onitsha road.
The Minister commended the good work completed on the ongoing projects by Dangote, such as the Apapa-Owonronshoki Expressway, the Lekki Deep Seaport road, and the construction of Nnamdi Azikiwe road (western bypass) in Kaduna State.
He also commended BUA for the good job they are doing at Ekpoma on the Lokoja-Benin Highway project. He nonetheless charged Mainstream to step up efforts on the projects they are handling.
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