FG has terminated10 road Contracts for non performance- Umahi

The Federal Government through the Ministry of Works, has  terminated 10 stalled projects, which have lasted for over 17 years.. Minister of Works , David Umahi disclosed this on Monday at a Press conference organised by his ministry to give an update on the ongoing road projects across the country.

Though he did not mention the projects, Umahi said due process was followed before they were terminated.

The minister of works also challenged the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Hon. Remi Oseni, to an open debate over a statement credited to him that the minister had failed in the discharge of his duties.

THE WHISTLER recalls that Oseni had reportedly berated Umahi, over the state of roads across the country, claiming that the minister got his priorities wrong.

Umahi while giving his scorecard said he had not failed, adding that his ministry is carrying out close to 3000 road projects across the country.

He said: “And when you represent a different opinion and pretend that you are talking about a different opinion, you see a lot of bitterness. And so, you darken the castle with our knowledge. That is not true.

“If there is something we are successfully doing, it’s to ensure that when a project is awarded, we go through the sites. The director from time to time is sent to the field apart from the controllers. I move around the geopolitical zones, examine projects, talk to contractors, pushing contractors.

“We’ve terminated over 10 projects following due process. Some of them have lasted 17 years, 18 years. And so, we are doing very, very well.

“I asked him (Hon. Oseni) to call for an open debate with me. I’m sure he’s not a civil engineer, but in his field, I will debate him in engineering. He can talk to me about any other field, but he can’t talk to me about the field of engineering.

“This is one thing that God gave me, and I’m grateful to God. When you invite us, of course, he will not invite this ministry again.

“With 2,600 projects plus 330 supplementary projects plus the new projects in 2024 is not a tea party at all. It requires commitment. It requires dedication, which we are doing. We work on Saturdays, we work on Sundays, and we work on public holidays.

“And there’s somebody we call and say we are giving attention to less priority issues without mentioning those less priority issues that we are giving attention to’’.

Umahi said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu inherited a total of 2604 projects, adding that the sum of N19trn would be required to complete all the ongoing road projects.

He said: “That may be what he thought was less priority. And so, on and so forth. And let me say to him that the projects Mr. President inherited are a total of 2,604 projects.

“As of May 29, 2023, the total cost was N13tn. That’s what the President inherited. And a debt to contractors of N1.6tn.

“And when you look at the variation by the reason of the subsidy removal, by the reason of the floating of the dollar, you’ll find out that if you review all these projects, you will see that you will get over N19tn, the total ongoing projects.

“And Mr. President did what no other president did. He manifested all the projects in the 2024 budget with the hope of giving him time to look for resources, including loans to do these projects