FG gives contractors handling 260 emergency projects 3 months deadline

By Mashe Umaru Gwamna

The Minister of Works, David Umahi, gave the contractors handling the 260 emergency projects awarded by the Renewed Hope administration of President Bola Tinubu a deadline of three months to complete and deliver the projects.
Umahi gave the deadline in Abuja during a meeting of the management of the Federal Ministry of Works with the contractors handling the various projects and the Federal Controllers of Works held at the Ministry’s yesterday in Abuja.
These Renewed Hope 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 with a view to restoring the serviceability level of the affected roads.
The Minister listed about 37 contractors who have achieved little or no milestone in the project delivery since the contracts were awarded and warned that such contractors must mobilize effectively to the site latest Wednesday 10th July 2024 or face contract termination.
He said, ” If after the deadline for mobilization 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 3 months.
He further directed, “Any contractor whose job has stayed for more than 3 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 defaulting contractors, most of whom are handling emergency road projects in Yobe, Jigawa, Zamfara, Benue, Kogi, Abia, Anambra, Imo, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River and River States were warned that the projects awarded to them must be delivered in three months’ time.
The minister stated that as no excuse of security challenges or lack of mobilization 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 revolutionizing road infrastructure for Nigeria’s economic prosperity.
He said, “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.
He also gave a marching order to the Federal Controllers of Works to ensure proper supervision of projects in their sites and be abreast with the contract awarded, amount, date of award, timeline, review date, extension of time, argumentation granted and whether the contractor is on site.