The Federal Government has issued contractors handling the 260 emergency projects three months deadline to deliver or face termination.
Minister of Works, Engr. Dave Umahi issued the deadline during a meeting with contractors on Monday in Abuja.
Umahi explained that the emergency road projects were appropriated in the 2023 Supplementary Budget with the intention to bring immediate intervention on the completely failed parts of critical federal roads nationwide.
The minister, in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Barr Orji Uchenna Orji, listed about 37 contractors who have achieved little or no milestone in the project delivery since the contracts were awarded and warned them to mobilise effectively to the sites latest on Wednesday July 10 or face contract termination.
He said, “If after the deadline for mobilisation to the site, any contractor fails to comply, the job shall be terminated by effluxion of time as the contract is for a time limit of three months.
“Any contractor whose job has stayed for more than three months without completion after the issuance of award letter, must seek and obtain approval for extension of time from the Federal Ministry of Works”.
The statement said most of the defaulting contractors, were handling emergency road projects in Yobe, Jigawa, Zamfara, Benue, Kogi, Abia, Anambra, Imo, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River and River States.
He warned that the projects awarded to them must be delivered in three months’ time as no excuse of security challenges or lack of mobilisation funds would justify the sufferings they are subjecting road users or shield them from being blacklisted as constituting a clog in the wheel of progress in the efforts of the ‘Renewed Hope’ administration in revolutionising road infrastructure for Nigeria’s economic prosperity.
“The people are suffering, the President is having sleepless nights in his efforts to fix our road infrastructure to help our economy, and people will be given jobs and they are telling us stories. There have been jobs awarded by this ministry in the past and money paid, and the contractors would hold the money, and they would say it’s a security problem. Didn’t you know about the security situation before you got the job?,” Umahi queried.
He directed the Federal Controllers of Works to ensure proper supervision of projects in their sites and be abreast with the contract awarded, amount, and date of award, timeline, review date, extension of time, argumentation granted and whether the contractor is on site.
Umahi also reiterated that mobilisation funding under the Standard Conditions of Contract is not a condition precedent for them to move to the site, but it is at the discretion of the Federal Ministry of Works and can be made available only to contractors who can undertake through Affidavit of Commitment to complete the job within three months of mobilisation.
“Our new policy is that if you want mobilisation and we are happy to give you, you will abide by the conditions. One is that, there will be no review of any component of the mobilisation given. Two, we will give you 30%, and you will do 30% of work before we can give you another money. So please, mobilisation is not compulsory.
“Again, emergency projects are not mobilised. The rule is that in emergency projects, you will go and do it 100%, and then you submit your papers. We now pay you 80% and send your documents to BPP. When they approve, we pay you the balance of 20%.”
The Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Yakubu Adam Kofarmata stated that the period had gone when contractors were taking the country for granted, maintaining that contractors can no longer afford to delay in job delivery for years after collecting mobilisation.
He charged contractors to brace up to the new spirit of “Nigeria first,” introduced in the Federal Ministry of Works under the Renewed Hope administration of President Bola Tinubu.
“Honestly, we have a stake. It is about the Nigerian nation. We don’t have any other country other than Nigeria. Believe me, we are pushing the Minister right now to stop considering this VOP and augmentation, because there is no reason, after being given an Award Letter, you come and say you are waiting for payment for six months. Please, let us consider the nation first. Once we put Nigeria first. You see that things will move,” Kofarmata said.