October 11, (THEWILL) – The Federal Government has directed contractors handling its road projects to report to the site within 14 days.
Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, who issued the directive on Tuesday, said failure to comply with the directive would lead to the termination of any existing contract.
The Minister said any contractor with four projects will not be awarded any additional contract until the ongoing projects are completed and delivered.
Briefing State House Correspondents after meeting with President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Tuesday while lamenting the poor state of Nigerian roads, Umahi said President Bola Tinubu has approved his plans to use local raw materials for road construction in the country.
The Minister, however, alleged that some contractors benefiting from the importation of ”fake and adulterated” bitumen are fighting hard to frustrate the plans
He vowed to drag the contractors before the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC).
“Nobody has told them not to use asphalt in their road construction, but we are witnesses to what is going on in the South-South and South-West roads, but you must assure us that the road will not fail in the next 15 years,” he said.
The Minister directed contractors handling major projects to meet with engineers in the Ministry to redesign some of the ongoing road projects in line with the requirements of concrete technology.
The present administration owes contractors about N14 trillion for 2,604 roads of 18,000 kilometres, which was inherited from the last administration.
Umahi said since assuming office, his Ministry has paid N4 trillion of the N14 trillion.
“Between when we came on board and now, about N4 trillion has been paid. So, that is a balance of N10 trillion remaining,” he said.
