Umahi warns expatriate contractors against sub-standard jobs

Wed, Sep 27, 2023
By editor
5 MIN READ

Politics

THE Minister of Works, Sen. Dave Umahi, has warned indigenous and expatriate contractors engaged in the construction of road projects across the country against substandard works.

The minister, gave the warning in Abuja at a meeting with contractors handling federal roads, said sub-standard work was no longer acceptable.

Umahi said most of the roads currently being constructed in the country could not last for seven years after construction

He frowned at how contractors cheat Nigerians in the materials they use to construct roads in the country.

“Our expatriate contractors, this cannot happen in any of your countries, it cannot.

“Anywhere there is a project going on, the first thing that is done is the convenience of the people. I feel we are being taken for a ride, and we are being taken for granted.

You feel you are doing us a favour, you are not doing us a favour, this is business, and this attitude must stop,” he said

He also decried the discomfort  and pains Nigerians face while travelling on federal roads, saying he had to feel their pains when he travelled to Edo from Abuja.

He said the contractors constantly increase the cost of project and cheat the country through contracts variation and the use of asphalt materials, which are subject to the international price of crude oil.

According to him, there is no project being constructed right now in Nigeria that is going to last for seven years.

“The question is, are we going to be maintaining or reconstructing our roads after every 10 years.

“That is what we have been doing. I traveled from Abuja to Benin City through Lokoja, all the stretches of the road are on contract, ongoing, this is through  the policy of the last administration but how much of the roads are motorable?

“I travelled through the roads myself and I shed tears for the kind of pains our people are going through.

“I spent 14 hours on the road having started my journey from 10 a.m. and got to Benin City at 2 p.m. the next day and I was very happy I experienced the pains.

“President Tinubu said I must travel through all the projects so that I will brief him on my experience and tell him the truth,” he said

Umahi further said he had stopped the signing of the funds to be released to contracts who are seeking price variation of their contracts, adding that Mr President was not aware of such increases.

The minister debunked the claim that cement price would go to N9,000 if the government starts doing concrete roads saying that it was  blackmail against him by the people who don’t  want the progress in the construction industry.

He added that he was doing his work with the fear of God.

“This is my line of instructions. I will do whatever the president instructs me to do and he is the only one and God that can cancel my instructions so don’t waste your time reporting me to anyone apart from these two.

“No matter the amount of blackmail and lies, it will not prevail. I travelled to the south west, I am not totally unhappy with the project there and supervision as I gave them 80 marks.

While critising workers in the ministry for not doing their supervision of contracts as they are expected, he said they had blood in their hands for the number of people that died in road accidents and those that were kidnapped.

“Unless Mr President does something about it, his lofty intention to help this country may not totally be achieved. Documents will be sent to the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) it will stay for six months.

“How will the contractors do the additional job you directed them to do without a backup authorization.

“I am warning all directors to get your controllers back to work, I want to see all the roads motorable, trucks should be off the road, any road where trucks fall I recall the director,” Umahi warned.

Also at the stakeholders meeting, President of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) Prof. Sadiq Abubakar, said the council was delighted to be part of the meeting.

According to him, the minister has shown a peculiar direction in bringing change to the sector.

He said COREN was going to do a follow up and have a meaningful engagement with the contractors.

He complained that there was a lot of non-compliance on the aspects that have to do with expatriates engagement in the country especially  quota allocation adding that Nigeria having been admitted   to the Washington Accord demand compliance.

Abubakar, therefore, appealed to the directors to bridge the gaps notes by the minister adding that COREN would do its own due diligence.(NAN)

A.

-September. 27, 2023 @ 16:07 GMT |

Tags:


There will be only two genders – Trump promises end to ‘transgender lunacy’

PRESIDENT-elect Donald Trump on Sunday pledged to “stop the transgender lunacy” on day one of his presidency, as Republicans —...

Read More
Tax Reform bills: Why we insist on withdrawal — Ndume

FORMER Senate Leader, Mohammed Ali Ndume, has said his insistence on the withdrawal of the Tax Reform Bills forwarded to...

Read More
FG lifts ban on mining to boost Zamfara IGR – Minister

ALHAJI Bello Matawalle, Minister of State for Defence, says President Bola Tinubu has lifted the ban on mining in Zamfara...

Read More