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Mar
12
2024

LATEST PRESS

Governors of Kwara and Kogi States Visit Hon. Minister of Works, Seek Federal Government's Intervention on The Ilorin - Lokoja Dualization of the Federal Highway

 

1.       The Honourable Minister of Works, His Excellency, Sen. Engr. Nweze David Umahi CON has assured  that the Federal Government  under the Renewed Hope administration of His Excellency President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR is committed  to addressing  the accumulated road infrastructural  needs of the country as that would contribute  progressively to the reinvigoration  of the  national  and sub-national economies. This was contained in the message of the Hon. Minister of Works during  the courtesy visit  of the Governor  of Kwara  State and Chairman, Nigerian Governors' Forum, His Excellency, Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq and the Governor  of Kogi State, His Excellency Ahmed Usman Ododo at the Federal Ministry of Works, Mabushi-Abuja on 11th March 2024.

2. The Honourable Minister said that holistic  attention  is being  given  to the Federal  roads in all the States  of the Federation by Mr. President, and this could be seen in the numerous road projects going  on in the country under  the Renewed Hope administration. "In all honesty, the roads are very terrible. But if you look at what we had when I took over in the month of August and what we are doing now,  you will see a lot of commitment by Mr. President, not just on that stretch..., but all over the country. That's why he directed that I must visit all the States and all the projects."  He assured the Governors who visited  that the Ministry  would  look at the funding mechanism to kick-start  the project once approved by Mr. President, as it is not contemplated  by the  budget. "And so, for coming and you had discussed this project with Mr. President, he does not joke with the welfare of Nigerians. He's one person that is  infrastructure committed right from when he was Governor. Even on his own personal businesses, you'll see the development of infrastructure. So, he's very much interested. He understands that the road is everything in this country. It will improve security, improve agriculture, improve commerce and so on and so forth."

3. Speaking on behalf  of the  Governors that visited,  the Governor  of Kwara State said the purpose  of their visit was to bring  the condition  of the Ilorin-Lokoja  road to the attention of the Federal Government  for possible  intervention, adding  that  the road which  also stretches  to Markurdi, Gboko up to the Republic  of Benin is key not only to the enhancement of the economy, but also to the development  of solid  mineral and agriculture in Nigeria. He expressed  delight  in the abundant interventions of Mr. President  on road infrastructure across  the nation and hoped that with the outcome  of their meeting, the Federal Government  would look into ways and means to fund the  Ilorin-Lokoja dualization.  He stated, "The primary purpose of this visit is to encourage the Federal Government to look into the Ilorin-Lokoja dualization of the Federal Highway. And it's  a very major important road, which is not just an economic road, it is a belt of solid minerals in Nigeria and agricultural belt. So that road will open up the entire region for business, for commerce, agriculture."

Mar
10
2024

Federal Government Addresses Concerns on Benin- Ekpoma- Auchi Okpella-Okene- Lokoja Road, Gives a Marching Order to Contractors To Justify The Funds Released  to them or Risk Termination  of Their Contracts 1. The Federal Government  has issued a marching  order to all the contractors handling the Benin- Ekpoma- Auchi- Okpella- Okene- Lokoja road to immediately commence accelerated  work on the rehabilitation of the road or face termination  of their contracts. This directive was handed over to the contractors by the Hon. Minister of Works,  His Excellency, Sen. Engr. Nweze David Umahi CON during  his inspection  visit  to the various  project sites in Edo State on 9th March 2024.. The Hon. Minister  who disclosed  that the Federal  Government  under the Renewed Hope administration of His Excellency, President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR had released  funds to the contractors handling  the  federal projects, warned that  contractors who fail to fully mobilize and commence  immediate  accelerated rehabilitation  works on the projects would have their  contracts  terminated and such contractors blacklisted. 2. Speaking  after a meeting  with the Governor of Edo State, His Excellency . Goodwin Obaseki, the Minister described  as unacceptable  the delay of the  contractors in fully  mobilizing  to site and effectively commencing  rehabilitation  work despite Mr. President's prompt release of funds to them for the projects. On the recent protest  along the Jattu axis of the  Benin- Auchi highway  by the residents  of the area,which  disrupted  vehicular  movements, the Hon. Minister said that his meeting  with the Governor  was to brainstorm  on the drastic  measures  to tackle the issues affecting the progress of work in the area."  I have had a very serious  meeting  with the Governor here. We are concerned about what is happening between  Benin-Ekpoma-Auchi- Okpella and the axis of Kogi State. That is what we have been brainstorming on. I have worked  with him throughout  last night to direct that the road should be unblocked, and if you see  the grievances of those people  you will not blame them  so much, because  people  are dying, trucks are falling." 3. On his part, the Governor  thanked  the Hon. Minister of Works for his deep sense  of  commitment to the development  of road infrastructure in Nigeria.  He assured of the unwavering  support  of his administration  to the concrete  technology initiative introduced by the Renewed Hope administration, which  he said was the best model  for the  road infrastructure  along the  East West  and indeed parts of the country. "First, let me thank  my brother and very good friend, the Honourable Minister of Works, who you know  is an engineer  par excellence, for the concern he has shown. Same time last year when I cried  for help ahead of the rainy reason,  we didn't  get this kind of response. " He harped on the need to remove encumbrances to the construction  of enduring  road infrastructure in Nigeria. "We shall not continue  to use expensive  asphalt  to do our roads. We should use  sustainable  local materials; we produce  cement  and steel, there is no reason  why we can not begin  to move towards utilizing more concrete  in building  our roads for sustainability so that our roads can last longer.' 4. The Hon. Minister  who also inspected the Lokoja – Benin Road Dualization Projects, section IV: Benin – Ehor road in Edo State handled by RCC Nig. Ltd; the section III: Ehor – Auchi in Edo State handled by Dantata & Sawoe Nig. Ltd; and the section II: Auchi – Okene in Edo/Kogi States handled by Mothercat Nig. Ltd tasked them on the best standard and timely  delivery  of the  projects. He further  moved to the spot where the residents  were blocking  vehicular  movements and addressed them on the efforts  of  Mr. President  in improving the condition  of roads  in the State." Mr. President has directed  me to go round the entire 36 States and brief him on the state of the  roads. No contractor  is being  owed a kobo from Warri down to Kogi State. We are readdresing  the situation here, you will see action from Monday"   ...

Mar
09
2024

Indigenous Contractors Nationwide to be Given a Pride of Place in the Construction Industry Under the Renewed Hope Administration of President  Tinubu with more Opportunities  for  Road Construction  on Concrete Technology   1.    In the vision to promote  local content as a major game changer in the economic  recovery plans of the Renewed Hope administration of the President of Nigeria, His Excellency, President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, the Honourable Minister of Works,  His Excellency Sen. Engr. Nweze David Umahi CON has assured  that his Ministry would  promote indigenous  resources, skills and capacities through  creating more opportunities for local contractors in the construction industry, especially  in the new innovation  of concrete technology  being  used in   tough terrains across  the nation. The Hon. Minister  stated  this when he paid  inspection  visits  to some flood sections along the East  West Road in Delta  State undergoing  remedial  work by an indigenous contractor, Messrs.  True Tech Nigeria  Ltd.   2.    The  Honourable Minister, who was very impressed  by the good job being  done by True Tech Nigeria  Ltd said  his Ministry  would  do everything  possible  to ensure  value for money, create wealth and jobs for indigenous professionals and technicians,  introduce  engineering solutions that are more economical and discourage  delays  in project delivery. He said of the project, "  We have about 10 different washouts, which we are providing multiple culverts in place of a decompile, which would have been much more expensive. But our solution is very economical, and it will solve the engineering problems. And then we're raising the road level above the flood level. And we are also using a concrete pavement to do it."  He said also that solar light would  be put on the axis  when the  project  is completed. "We're also going to put  solar light, at least let it be the signature of Mr. President, and that will be the microcosm of the macrocosm of what Nigerians should expect on our roads under the administration of Mr. President".   3.    Meanwhile, the Honourable Minister of Works  has directed all Controllers of Works  to ensure that all contractors use 70% stone base aggregate  with only 30% dust base to form the base of the  road construction  jobs. He gave this  directive  when he inspected the dualization of Sapele- Agbor road, route no. 3 in Delta  State  handled  by CGC Nigeria  Ltd. He, however, commended  the construction company  for their good  job. " CGC is known  for a good job. I commend  you for the  one I have seen. It's  good, so we will do everything  to assist  you, but listen to our directive. Follow  the existing  asphalt, pulverize it, and put 20cm stone base. Don't  use dust base. "   4.    The Minister, who also inspected  the rehabilitation of  Warri- Sapele road via route no. 2, section  3 in Delta  State, handled  by  SKECC Nigeria  Ltd; the  Benin- Warri road  rehabilitation, section  2, Sapele- Imasabor, handled  by Geld Construction  Nig  Ltd/ Tracter  Nigeria  Ltd in Delta  State; Benin- Warri road, section 1( Imasabor- Benin  in Edo State,  handled  by  Levant Nigeria  Ltd; as well as the Benin- Agbor route no 4 and Benin By-pass route  5 all in Edo State, gave and ultimatum  directing Geld Construction  Nigeria  Ltd/ Tracter Nigeria Ltd  to within  14 days justify  the mobilization  received  or have their job terminated. "After 14 days  of this warning notice and there's  nothing  happening, I will come and terminate the job.".  ...

Mar
07
2024

FG Commences Construction of 700 Km Lagos- Calabar Coastal Road and Maintenance of Piers and Other Under Bridge  Works of Critical Bridges in Lagos   1. As part of strategic plans for holistic economic recovery, the Federal Government has commenced the construction of the 700km Lagos- Calabar Coastal Highway, spanning 9 States with two spurs leading to the Northern States.  This was expressed by the Honourable Minister of Works, His Excellency Sen. Engr. Nweze David Umahi, CON, during the official handover of the first phase of the project, made up of 47.47 kilometers dual carriageway, to Hitech Construction Company Ltd, and which is to be constructed in concrete pavement.   2. The Hon. Minister who was in company with the Federal Ministry of Works' Controller in charge of Lagos State, Engr. (Mrs) O. I. Kesha, emphasized the need for all contractors handling Federal Government’s road projects to deliver within a record time, noting that the government would not allow variation arising from delays or slow pace of work once mobilization had been done. He, however, commended very highly Hitech Construction Company Nigeria Ltd for being reputable for quality and speedy delivery of jobs. He acknowledged their efforts in starting work immediately after the contract was awarded. He said, " They have completed some filling of 1.3 kilometer from the day the project was awarded to them. It shows the speed they are going to deploy to this project. Within a couple of weeks, we awarded the project to them, they mobilized a lot of dredging equipment, and you can see that they have recovered 1.3 kilometer of section one of the phase".   3. The Honourable Minister  who also visited  project  sites at the Queen's Drive Ikoyi, the Third Mainland  bridge top deck, the  underwater, the Eddo bridge,  the Eko bridge  and Carter  bridge expressed  the determination  of the Federal  Government  to carry out a comprehensive  rehabilitation  of the  bridges which  he  said are critical links between  the  Mainland  and the  Island  of  Lagos,  the economic  hub of the country. These repairs are expected to cover not only the top of the bridge but also the under-bridge works. He said, " At the Third Mainland bridge, we have three or four critical elements to be rehabilitated. The first one is the deck, and the deck is about 11 kilometers × two. That is dual carriageway, including the ramps, and it has been done by CCECC. They have done very beautiful jobs, but we have not concluded.  Before the end of March, we'll be concluding the asphalt milling and the reasphalting.  He further said, "But that is not all our commitment there. We are installing the guardrails, we are replacing the lights with solar light, we are going to put some decorative lights too, and then we are going to put CCTV camera both on top and under the bridge to check insecurity and illegal mining of sand, which is causing scouring on the piles and the pipe bits. The second job is that some sections of the slab are deflected, and so what we have done is to get an expert to understudy the level of deflection. That's the tendons of the slab that deflected. And so, we are going to cut open the slabs, enter and then look at it, scoop it, and then reinstate the tendons of the slab. There's nothing to worry about. It's been done at a Eko bridge by Buildwell. So, this one is not a threat to us at all.   4. He commended what Julius Berger Nigeria Ltd is doing already, which is restoration of deteriorated peirs and peir caps including the cover of peirs and peircaps themselves, and said the piles which he also inspected  were the most  critical of the works to be done.   5. Earlier  in their  respective  remarks, the State  Controller,  Federal Ministry of Works  and the representatives  of  Hitech Construction Nigeria Ltd, Julius Bergger  Nigeria  Ltd, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation Ltd,  and. Buildwell Nigeria  Ltd assured  the Honourable Minister  that they would continue to work in line with the   spirit  of excellence, which the Renewed Hope administration of His Excellency President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR  is known for. ...

First First

PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT


Jan
29
2024

OFFICE OF THE HONOURABLE MINISTER OF WORKS

1. The  Honourable  Minister of Works, His Excellency Sen Engr Nweze David Umahi CON has directed   Mesrss Reynolds Construction  Company  RCC,  Nigeria  Limited  to  immediately resume  work on the  15KM Eleme  to Onne Junction  on the East West Road, Rivers State  which  he suspended during his unscheduled  inspection  visit to the project  site on 27th January,2024, due to observed  infractions on the construction specifications.

2. This directive  is in accordance  with the resolutions  reached  in a meeting  with the Permanent Secretary  and key Directors  of the Ministry  together  with the management of  RCC Ltd at his office at the Federal Ministry of Works, Mabushi- Abuja, this 29th January 2024. The Honourable Minister  had ordered the suspension  of work on the project due to substandard  jobs and invited the management  of the company to report to the Ministry for  resolution of technical  issues.

3. The  Honourable  Minister further directs the contractors handling  the project to  resume  work on the four sections  of the project and  in strict  compliance  with the contract  specifications. They are also required  to  laise with the  Permanent  Secretary and the Director  in charge  of construction to engage  with the representatives  of the host communities on issues  bothering  on alleged  infringement  on the  contractors'  right  of way which  according  to them slows down the project.

4. The Honourable Minister of Works  is determined  to see to the  speedy  and quality delivery  of  Federal  Government's  jobs across  the nation in line with the vision  of the Renewed Hope administration of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR and he is unbending  in his resolve not to  accept  the delivery  of jobs that fall short  of standard.


OTHER NEWS

Feb
19
2024

Meeting of Cement Manufacturers – Dangote Cement Plc, BUA Cement Plc, Larfarge Africa Plc & Cement Producers Association with the Honourable Minister of Industry, Trade & Investment, Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite and the Honourable Minister of Works, Sen. Engr. Nweze David Umahi, CON held at the Office of the Honourable Minister of Works, Mabushi, Abuja on Monday, 19th February, 2024


1. The meeting noted the challenges of the manufacturers like:
    a.    Cost of gas;
    b.    High import duty on spare parts;
    c.    Bad road network;
    d.    High foreign exchange; and
    e.    Smuggling of cement to neighbouring nations.

2.    The government noted the challenges and reacted as follows:
a.    Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment to seek some remedies from Mr. President on cost of gas and import duties.

b.    Federal Ministry of Works to give more attention to fixing of the roads, especially around the locations of the manufacturers.

c.    On the issue of smuggling cement, the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment to deepen the already started engagement with the National Security Adviser on how to stop the smuggling.

3.     The cement manufacturers and the Government noted that the current high price of cement is abnormal in some locations nationwide.  Ideally, cement retail prices should not cost more than ₦7,000.00 to ₦8,000.00/ 50kg bag of cement.  Therefore, the three cement manufacturers: Dangote Cement Plc, BUA Cement Plc and Larfarge Africa Plc have agreed that cement cost will not be more than between ₦7,000.00 and ₦8,000.00/50kg bag depending on the location.

4.    Going forward, Government advised cement manufacturers to set up a price monitoring mechanism to ensure compliance, and manufacturers have willingly accepted to do so and to sanction any of her distributors or retailers found wanting.

5.    Government expects the agreed price to drop after securing government's interventions on the challenges of the manufacturers on gas, import duty, smuggling, and better road network.

6.    The meeting agreed to reconvene in 30 days to review progress made.

SPEECHES

Dec
12
2023

Brief by the Honourable Minister of Works, Senator. (Engr) Nweze David Umahi CON, FNSE, FNATE on the Occasion of the Presentation and Defence of the Ministry’s 2024 Budget io the Joint Committee on Works

 

The Chairman,
Senate Committee on Works,
Distinguished Senators,
The Chairman,
House Committee on Works
Honourable Members

 

1.0    INTRODUCTORY REMARKS
I wish to express the appreciation of the Ministry to the Joint National Assembly Committee on Works for this opportunity to present and defend the Ministry’s 2023 Budget Performance and 2024 Budget Proposal. The Ministry received the letter Ref. No. NASS/S&H/COW/01/10/1 dated 30th November, 2023 from the Joint Committee on Works requesting for details and submissions on issues pertaining to the performance of the 2023 Appropriation and 2024 Budget proposal. These documents have also been earlier submitted in response to the said letter. I will also like to explain and highlight some aspects of the submissions in the course of this budget defense.

 

2.0    OVERVIEW OF THE 2023 APPROPRIATION
The sum of N534, 455,695,989.00 was appropriated to the Ministry of Works and Housing and its Parastatals in the 2023 fiscal year. From this amount, Works and Housing Sectors of the then Ministry was allocated a total Capital of N453,255,980,966.00. Following the demerger of the Ministry, Federal Ministry of Works was allocated the sum of N383, 351,656,449.00 as Capital, Overhead was in the Sum of N525,362,343.96 and Personnel was in the Sum of N6,916,751,203.00. The details of the Appropriation are as follows:

(a)     Capital Allocation:                
i. Main Ministry of Works:                 N383,351,656,449.00
ii. Parastatals:                                 N 46,215,578,221.00
Total                                               N429,567, 234, 670.00

 

(b)    Overhead Cost:                            
i. Main Ministry:                     N535,362,344.40
ii. Parastatals:                    
a. Office of the Survey-General of the Federation (OSGOF)         N239, 664,804.00
b. Federal School of Surveys (FSS), Oyo                                  N50, 523,550.00
c. Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA)                      N17, 525,286,292.00
d. Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) N9, 691,801.00
e. Surveyors’ Registration Council of Nigeria (SURCON)             N14, 971,301.00
    Total                                                                                  N18,375,500,092.4

 

(c)    PERSONNEL COST
i.    Main Ministry                            N6,916,751,203.00
ii.   Parastatals                               N5,234,644,736.00                      

Total                                              N12,151,395,939.0


3.0    2023 BUDGET RELEASES/PERFORMANCE

 

As earlier said, the Capital Allocation to the Ministry was N383, 351,656,449.00 after the demerger of Federal Ministry of Works and Housing. The releases so far to the Ministry was in the sum of N184,165,147,332.29, which represents 48.01% of the Capital Allocation in the 2023 Appropriation. This leaves a balance of N199, 405,010,166.71 to be released by the Federal Ministry of Finance (FMF).

 

3.10.    Capital Projects


The sum of N184,165,147,332.29 released up to date to the Ministry from the 2023 Budget Appropriation had been utilized for payments of some certified Certificates for executed works on roads and bridges by Highway, projects of Engineering Services and Common Services Departments.  It is to be noted that as at the end of November 2023 the Ministry had a cumulative unpaid certificate in the sum of N1,507,873,365,516.02 (One Trillion, Five Hundred and Seven Billion, Eight Hundred and Seventy-three Million, Three Hundred and Sixty-five Thousand, Five Hundred and Sixteen Naira, Two Kobo) only for all inherited on-going highway and bridge projects. Apart from the pressure on the resources to pay, there is the inadequacy of annual budgetary provisions where in most cases N100m or N200m and even less was provided for projects estimated to cost above twenty- fifty billion Naira or even more. Awarding such projects even though appropriated is difficult on its own because the provision is inadequate to even pay 10% for mobilization whereas the Procurement Act prescribes 30% mobilization. The details of all the 2023 Budget Performance for Highways Capital Projects are provided in the document attached as Annexure I.

 

3.20    Overhead   

Out of the Total Approved Overhead of N535,362,344.40 the sum of N312,294,700.90 was released to the Ministry for overhead costs for the period January - July, 2023, which represents 58.33% of the budgetary provision with an outstanding sum of N 223,067,643.50.

 

3.30    Personnel Cost


The Personnel Cost of N12,598,351,319.00 for the Ministry is being implemented through the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) programme in the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation.

 

4.0    REVENUE GENERATED

The sum of N723,063,678.62 was generated as revenue from January to November, 2023 and all the revenue realized have been remitted to the consolidated Revenue Account (evidence of IGR remittance enclosed).

 

5.0    2024 BUDGET PROPOSAL
The total sum of N 657,228,251,596 was proposed for the Federal Ministry of Works and its Parastatals for Capital, Personnel and Overhead estimates in the 2024 Appropriation Bill. The breakdown of the proposals is as follows:

 

5.10    Capital Budget Proposal            
a). Main Ministry of Works                                       N 566,466,977,361
b). Parastatals    
i. Federal Road Maintenance Agency(FERMA).         N 51, 282,456,911               
ii. African Regional Institute for Geo-Spacial Information Science and Technology AFRIGIST (RECTAS) N 104,039,920
  Grand Total                                                           N 617,853,474,192

 

5.20 Overhead Budget Proposal                
a). Main Ministry of Works                           N 668,116,856.00
b). Parastatals:
i. FERMA                                                   N 22,027,209,696.
ii. RECTAS/AFRIGIST                                 NIL                          
          Grand Total                                      N 22,695,326,552

 

5.30 Personnel Cost Proposal            
i. Main Ministry of Works                          N 12,598,351,319
ii. Parastatals                                          N 4,081,099,533
             Grand Total                                N 16,679,450,852

 

Please note that without any presidential pronouncement, the following Parastatals which have been under the Ministry of Works have been provided for in the Budget Proposal for the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development as follows:
i.    Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation (OSGoF);
ii.    Federal School of Surveying, Oyo (FSS);
iii.    Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN); and
iv.    Surveyors’ Council of Nigeria (SURCON)
It will be good that these Committees do get these Parastatals back to the Federal Ministry of Works.    

 

6.0     CATEGORIZATION OF ONGOING HIGHWAY PROJECTS UP TO 2023

The Ministry undertook a total of 2,097of on-going/inherited projects at a total Contract Sum of N13,835,640,624,786. The total amount certified to date stood at N4,772,770,148,140.41, while the total amount paid was in the sum of N3,140,569,453,163,82 as at November, 2023. 3 details are shown in Annex I.

 

Some of the projects are categorized according to special funding mechanism as follows:


6.10    Highway Project Financed with Presidential Infrastructure Development FUND (PIDF).
A total of Four selected critical projects are being funded under the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) Project which is managed by the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA).  The projects are:
a.    Expansion and upgrading of Lagos-Ibadan Expressway Section I (Lagos-Shagamu);
b.    Expansion and upgrading of Lagos-Ibadan Expressway Section II (Shagamu-Ibadan);
c.     Reconstruction/Rehabilitation of Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Road; and
d.     Construction of 2nd Niger Bridge and two Bypasses at Asaba and Onitsha.

 

As at date, the total sum of N846, 365,489,635.12 has been certified out of the initial projects cost N1,535,375,595,518.43. This translates to a performance of 55.12%. The Lagos-Ibadan Expressway has been substantially completed to about 90% but we still lack fund to complete the project. The Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Road is in three sections with about 127km uncompleted in section I (Abuja-Kaduna). Section II which is Kaduna-Zaria is fully completed and section III which is Zaria-Kano is on-going with 20km left uncompleted. The total cost of the three sections is about N655billion. The contractor is seeking for a review of contract to about N1.37trillion to complete the project. We are reviewing the request. However, even though the project will not get up to N1trillion when fairly reviewed, we believe that the unit rates ought to be reviewed. For example, the subsisting unit rate of Asphalt on the project is about N11,000 per square meter, whereas the real cost now is not less than N20,000 per square meter. We have requested the contractor to execute the first 40km of section I on concrete. It is important to note that we do not have fund to continue the project by February 2024 if no funding is injected into the project.

 

The 2nd Niger Bridge has been completed and was recently handed over to the Ministry. Additionally, there remains the construction of the Approach roads 2A and 2B which were awarded by FEC but have funding challenges to take-off.  The remaining two Bypasses in Asaba (2A) and Onitsha (2B) awarded to Julius Berger Nigeria Plc and Reynods Construction Company Nigeria Limited respectively, during the last Administration was initially estimated at about N200billion but now with inflation, the cost may be up to N260billion. There is no funding for these projects and the projects have not taken off. Let me note that without these Bypasses, the completed 2nd Niger Bridge will be almost inoperative. The details of these projects are as shown in Annexure II.

 

6.20    Highway Projects Financed with the Sovereign SUKUK Fund
The Federal Government through the Debt Management Office (DMO) initiated Sukuk Funding Programme for financing road infrastructure in 2017. The total sum of N683.122bn was raised to fund 25, 28, 44, 71 and 63 number projects in years 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2022 respectively. All the works milestones for the Sukuk in year 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2021 were completely drawn down while the 2022 Sukuk, issued in the sum of N110,000,000,000.00 is on-going. A total of 63 selected critical projects are being funded under the 2022 Sovereign Sukuk Issuance. As at end of November 2023, the total sum of N50,537,288,079.45 was drawn down translating to a performance of 46%. The details of execution of the projects and drawdown of the 2022 Sukuk Bond is as shown on Annex III;

 

6.30    The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) Funded Projects Phase I
The NNPC joined the Road Infrastructure Development & Refurbishment Tax Credit Scheme programme by undertaking to finance 21 roads in the sum of N621bn with total length of roads of about 1,804.6km under the NNPC Phase I. These roads were identified by key stakeholders such as the NNPC, Petroleum Tanker Drivers Association (PTD) and the Ministry etc. as being crucial for the efficient distribution of petroleum products across the nation. As at date, the total drawdown forwarded to the NNPC Limited is in the sum of N247,729,252,899.54 out of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved sum of N621,237,164,794.59 representing 39.88% performance. The funding gap here due to inflation is estimated at over 250bn. The details of NNPC Phase I Funded Projects are attached as Annex IVA;

 

6.40    The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) Funded Projects Phase II
The NNPC Phase II Funded Projects were approved by the Federal Executive Council in the sum of N1,969,700,168,910.78 for the execution of 44 No. roads with total length of 4,554.19km while the initial Contract Sum was about N3.969trillion. This leaves a funding gap of over N2trillion at the time of starting the projects. Presently, with inflation, the funding gap to have the NNPC Phases I & II completed shall stand at about N3.56trillion (Inflation about N1.5trillion) for two years from now. This funding gap is neither appropriated for nor has any source of funding. This means that without the kind intervention of this Distinguished and Honourable Joint Committees of Works, these projects will not go on mostly from March 2024 when the NNPC funding would have been exhausted. Your kind intervention and advice are highly, highly and urgently solicited. As at date, the total drawdown forwarded to the NNPC Limited is in the sum of N752,093,618,603.51 representing 38.18% performance. The level of drawdown seems low because most of the projects needed to be reviewed due to the inflation, The details of NNPC Phase II Funded Projects are attached as Annex IVB.

 

6.50 Other projects funded under Road Infrastructure   Development & Refurbishment Tax Credit Scheme.
Several Companies have leveraged on the Executive Order No.7 of 2019 to commit investments in the construction/rehabilitation of roads and obtain Tax credit. Companies like NLNG Limited, Dangote Industries Limited, BUA International Limited, MTN Nigeria Communications Plc, Mainstream Energy Solutions Limited and GZI Industries projects have embraced the Road Infrastructure Development & Refurbishment Tax Credit Scheme program. Twenty-one projects at a total cost of N1.338trillion outside of those being funded by the NNPCL are being executed under this Scheme. The details are attached as Annex IVC; and
a)    Projects funded from Multi – Lateral Loans.
4Nos. major highway and bridge projects are being funded through Multilateral Loans and grants from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the China Exim Bank. The details of these projects are attached as Annex V.

 

7.0   2023 APPROPRIATION OF ALL ONGOING EMERGENCY/SPECIAL REPAIRS AND LIMITED REHABILITATION PROJECTS

These are projects being executed under emergency repairs works along the Federal Highway network. The projects under this category have a total contract cost of N419,841,989,869.00, with a total amount certified in the sum of N307,486,496,856.58, while the total amount paid is in the sum of N 123,213,264,774.77, the Ministry is indebted to Contractors to the tune of N 184,273,232,081.81. The details of these projects are included in Annex I.

 

8.0    INTERVENTION ON TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS PROJECTS  
These are projects being executed under the intervention in Federal Government Tertiary Institutions. Out of 108 projects under this category at a total contract cost of N15,641,954,804.16, 61 projects have been completed and handed over at a total cost of N10,790,866,435.35 as at end of November 2023. Twenty-one projects at a total cost of N3,874,482,841.53 have been completed awaiting handover, while the remaining 26 at a total cost of N3,491,998,752.77 are on-going. The details of these projects are attached as Annex VII.

 

9.0    OVERGROWN VEGETATION CONTROL PROJECTS  
These are projects being executed under the intervention on Federal Government Tertiary Institutions. The projects under this category have a total contract cost of N2,333,448,750.00, with a total amount certified in the sum of N1,795,927,968.71, while the total amount paid is in the sum of N62,060,468.75, the Ministry is indebted to Contractors to the tune of N1,733,867,499.96. The details of these projects are included in Annex I.

 

10.0 PROJECTS PRIORITIZED FOR COMPLETION 2022-2024
In spite of all odds, 21 major road and bridge projects have been completed and some were commissioned, while others are ready for commissioning. The total cost of the completed major road and bridge projects is in the sum of N498,802,362,642.46 with a total length of    489. 97km.  Also, to be completed in 2024 is the 260 Emergency Repair works in the 2023 Supplementary Appropriation at a total cost of about N260bn. The detail of completed projects is attached as Annex VI.

 

11.0 BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION/ REHABILITION PROJECTS
Under the 2023 budget, the Ministry undertook massive rehabilitation of bridge projects, some of which have never been maintained since they were constructed over 50 years ago. Human activities on these bridges (i.e. vandalization, fire incidents) have left these bridges in deplorable state and unserviceable conditions. The Ministry is trying to sustain these critical works in the 2024 budget as well as undertake the construction of new bridges where there was none in order to reduce travel time as well as the reconstruction of bridges to replace collapsed ones.

 

These projects are:
a).    Comprehensive Repairs of the damaged elements of the Third Mainland bridge superstructure: This was procured this year and works are currently ongoing and is satisfactory so far. The second Phase which involves the substructure repairs is being processed for award.
b).    Comprehensive emergency repairs of Eko and Marine bridges in Lagos State: Works are ongoing on these bridges. The Contractor has attained appreciable progress and is being supported financially to enable expeditious completion due to the emergency nature of the works.
c).    Proposed Rehabilitation of Carter, Iddo, Liverpool and Iganmu bridges in Lagos State: The present condition of the above bridges calls for urgent rehabilitation works to restore the bridge integrity and forestall further deterioration that may be detrimental to road users. In this regard, the procurement process is already ongoing within the Ministry for the emergency award of contract for the repairs/rehabilitation of these bridges.
d).    The Rehabilitation of Jimeta bridge in Adamawa State and Murtala Mohammed bridge at Koton Karfe along Lokoja – Abuja Road; Works on these bridges are ongoing and will soon be completed.
e).    Proposed construction of Shendam bridge in Plateau State, Reconstruction of failed bridges in Enugu State and the Construction of Buruku bridge in Benue State; and
f). Reconstruction of three failed Bridges on East/West Road

 

These are new bridges that are required to ameliorate the sufferings of the host communities as well as other commuters. Procurement of contract for the construction of these bridges are already at an advanced stage and will soon be completed. Funds will be needed to bring them into reality.

 

12.0    NEW PROJECTS IN 2024 BUDGET  
There are new projects captured under the 2024 Budget at a total cost of N102,956,624,538.00. See Annexure 13

 

13.0    PROSPECTS AND PROSPECTS OF THE 2024 BUDGET FOR HIGHWAY PROJECTS

The policy thrust regarding the 2024 budget for highway projects is to ensure completion of some critical on-going projects which have attained significant levels of completion while keeping the rest alive through minimal appropriation. 693 new projects have been proposed in the 2024 budget, which are critical to improving road network connectivity and thus enhancing traffic circulation on the Federal Road network, necessary for boosting socio-economic activities in the country. The primary objective is enabling the Ministry achieve its mandate in providing a quality Federal Road network that serves as an environment to aid socio-economic growth of the country.

 

The main challenge to highways development in the Country remains inadequate funding. As at date, Government is committed to highway contractors to the tune of about N13.835 trillion with a total of about N1,507,873,365,516.02 unpaid certificates for executed works. Secondly, the dearth of younger Engineers/Technical Officers in the Ministry as a result of embargo on employment is affecting effective project supervision at the sites. It is expected that more sources of funding of highway projects be explored as well as lifting the embargo on employment of needed Engineers/Technical officers at middle level to enhance supervision of projects. Our Ministry has set up six committees to review all debts, approved and unapproved variations on prices of basic rates, and all augmentations that occurred before May 29th 2023 and from May 30th 2023 till date.

 

14.0    RECOMMENDATIONS
14.10 From the fore-going, I would like to recommend as follows:
a)    The provision of an Emergency Fund of about 30% of the Budget Provision to cater for unforeseen emergencies that regularly occur on the road network especially during the rainy seasons;
b)    An increase of the Ministry’s present budgetary allocation to about N1.5tr to complete at least 10 selected critical roads and bridges in each of the six geo-political zones of the country;
c)    Urgent review of all certified debts to contractors and if possible, convert same to Promissory Notes to contractors so that we can get properly focused in using any fund appropriated to us to pursue the Ministry’s set objectives;
d)    Inflation- Many contractors are presently out of sites because they have exhausted their contract VoPs and needed the projects unit rates to be reviewed. It will be good that all VoPs and augmentations of all the projects are reviewed and those that are owed be converted to Promissory Notes, while unit rates regime will take effect on contractors in line with the current realities of the construction industry.
e)    More eligible companies should be encouraged to key into the Road Tax Credit Scheme to increase the number of private sector interventions. This means front-loading their tax liabilities to solve our present challenges;
f)    Raising of Bonds from the Capital Market to finance road development in the country;
g)    Creation of an enabling environment by fixing the roads so that the deployment of the Highway Development and Management Initiative (HDMI) can be effective; and
h)    That appropriations for projects be such that no projects when started should last for more than four years.

 

14.20     ISSUE OF ASPHALT (FLEXIBLE) VERSUS CONCRETE (RIGID) PAVEMENT
It would be my great pleasure to clarify the misunderstanding of the Ministry’s new policy direction regarding the use of Rigid pavement on her projects. I have to state categorically that no Contractor is prevented from executing the scope works originally signed with the client once certain conditions are observed, which are provision of a 15year shelf-life Insurance Guarantee for the works and a maximum of 5% of Variation of Price (VoP) in the Contract. The Ministry’s new policy is to prevent excessive augmentation of contracts considering the scarcity of Forex and weakening of the Naira against the Dollar which makes the cost of bitumen (which is fully imported) increase in geometric progression against the arithmetic progression rise in cement prices in concrete road pavements. In these times of rising inflation and scarce resources, the Country needs to look inwards to conserve foreign exchange.

 

15.0 COMMENDATIONS
We thank the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, Senator Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR for the intervention of his Renewed Hope administration in the Works sub-sector and approval of an enhanced budget envelop for the Federal Ministry of Works. We also thank the leadership of National Assembly, the Chairmen and members of the Works Committees and indeed members of the National Assembly for their painstakingness in ensuring the speedy passage of the 2024 Appropriation Bill.


Nweze David Umahi
Federal Ministry of Works
December, 2023

PHOTO NEWS

Mar
07
2024

HONOURABLE MINISTER OF WORKS, HIS EXCELLENCY SEN. ENGR. NWEZE DAVID UMAHI, CON, WITH OTHER DIGNITARIES DURING THE OFFICIAL HANDOVER OF THE FIRST PHASE OF THE PROJECT, MADE UP OF 47.47 KILOMETERS DUAL CARRIAGEWAY, TO HITECH CONSTRUCTION COMPANY LTD

Honourable Minister of Works, His Excellency Sen. Engr. Nweze David Umahi, CON, with other dignitaries during the official handover of the first phase of the project, made up of 47.47 kilometers dual carriageway, to Hitech Construction Company Ltd

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PHOTO NEWS

Mar
05
2024

HON. MINISTER OF WORKS, HIS EXCELLENCY SEN. ENGR NWEZE DAVID UMAHI CON (RIGHT) WITH THE DIRECTOR, INFRASTRUCTURE AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT, MIKE SALAWOU HELD AT THE OFFICE OF THE HONOURABLE MINISTER FEDERAL MINISTRY OF WORKS, THIS 5TH MARCH 2024.

Hon. Minister of Works, His Excellency Sen. Engr Nweze David Umahi CON (Right) with the Director, Infrastructure and Urban Development, Mike Salawou held at the office of the Honourable Minister Federal Ministry of Works, this 5th March 2024.

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