Ministry of Works, Umahi agency of FG, announces that N431b is available for contractors

The Ministry of Works, an agency of the Federal Government, has announced that it has N431 billion available for contractors.

This was said by the Minister of Works, David Umahi, during a meeting with all project managers for road dualization and all zone directors of the Ministry on Thursday at the Ministry’s office in Abuja.

Additionally, the Minister stated the Ministry’s plan to concentrate on the majority of the dualized roads in the nation.

He declared, “We are here today to declare our intention to deal with the majority of the dual-lane roads in the nation.

I want to remind you that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation would fund 50% of the contract’s total amount till 2025.

“We have N431 billion ready for contractors to clear, but there is no certificate for it. If you are doing a job under Phase 1, try to make claims. If your job involves augmentation, go back to your Regional Director for understanding before I sign the certificate. Any certificate I sign now, I have to take account for it even after I have left office.”

Speaking through the Director of Information Press and Public Relations Unit, Blessing Lere-Adams, Umahi further instructed the contractors to stay in one lane if their project had not reached 50% completion. He also mentioned that he had developed a Performance Bond that would ensure all new projects for a 10-year period.

He asked all road builders to contact the Ministry to either cease construction or reconstruct the road such that it would survive ten years if they created roads that were not capable of doing so.

He urged all the contractors to work with him on building roads using concrete technology, as it was done in Singapore and India, and he cautioned contractors that he would not listen to tales of failure on the roads due to overloading.

In addition, Umahi urged the contractors and other interested parties to pay attention to President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, noting that the current administration is in charge of 18000 kilometers of roads and that it inherited a contract sum of about N14.1 trillion, of which N4 trillion is being paid for all of the projects, some of which have lasted for between 10 and 20 years.

The Minister claimed that certain contractors have intentionally increased the contractor sum by 100%, which is why they are not receiving payment.

“We are returning to the original concept of the projects and the necessity of any further works and also see how we can get a fair deal,” the Minister added. “Expecting an endorsement from the Ministry of what is not acceptable to the Nigerian Society of Engineers is not conceivable.”

I Umahi also stated that “Mr. President knows road infrastructure, and if I come before him with a contract for a value of N44 billion reviewed to N144 billion contract sum, I must be able to present facts of how the cost got about.”