ENUGU – ONITSHA ROAD CONSTRUCTION: FEDERAL MINISTRY OF WORKS REVIEWS PERFORMANCE, FROWNS AT SLOW PACE OF WORK BY RCC AND NIGERCAT, DIRECTS ENFORCEMENT OF OPERATION FREE OUR ROADS In furtherance of Federal Government’s directive on review of performance of all inherited ongoing and new road projects nationwide and as part of efforts to alleviate the sufferings of road users, the Honourable Minister of Works, His Excellency, Sen. Engr. Nweze David Umahi, CON has directed the contractors handling the construction of the 107km Enugu – Onitsha road dualization to brace up for the implementation of the policies of the Renewed Hope administration with respect to speed and quality of work, commitment to project execution and care for the comfort of road users by maintaining one carriageway of the dual carriageway under construction to mitigate the sufferings of road users.  This directive came during a crucial meeting of the Ministry with MTN that is funding the construction of Enugu – Onitsha road dualization under Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme, the representatives of the Government of Enugu State and the two contractors handling the project under the Tax Credit scheme – RCC Ltd and Nigercat Ltd, held at the Ministry’s Headquarters, Mabushi- Abuja on 8th August 2024. The Honourable Minister while recalling that the Enugu – Onitsha dual carriageway is being funded by MTN under the Tax Credit Scheme expressed disappointment on the condition of the road under construction and blamed the sufferings of the road users on lack of commitment and sheer insensitivity of the contractors on the plight of the road users.  He said, “The MTN has engaged the subcontractors, two subcontractors, RCC Ltd and Nigercat Ltd. The first time I supervised that project, I discovered that the Nigercat section where we have a binder course had failed. I directed that the binder course must be scarified and reinstated, and I knew it was inherited. I want to believe that it has been done.” He stated, “Let me express my disappointment over the slow pace of work on that project. It's one of the worst roads in this country. Everywhere we have diversion; diverting from the one that RCC and the Nigercat had completed, the contractors are not kind enough to even put stone based on the diversion points. So, by the reason of the launching of our Operation Free our Roads, it is now a violation  of policy on the side of  the controllers and directors of the Federal Ministry of Works where we have vehicles falling on any project that is ongoing or where there are pot holes on our roads” He further said, “Last Sunday, I inspected that road with the Governor of Enugu State and we saw the level of suffering  of people at the Abakpa section of that road where RCC Ltd was putting binder, about 3.5 km of the road, and they blocked it.  And so everybody now resorted to using one carriageway which is not even maintained. And so some people stayed there for five hours and that is not acceptable.  I have continued to say that Nigerians should not be suffering while contractors are building roads for our people.  It does not happen in any other country, the way it happens in Nigeria. The public must know that the President's intention is not for them to suffer while trying to fix the roads, and it is their right to insist that contractors should fix the roads that they are engaged on. Most of the time, contractors bring very serious nuisances, hardships, and pains to the public, and they don't care.” He thanked the government of Enugu State for their resolve to fund the construction of 20km Abakpa junction to Akama (9th Mile) section of Enugu – Onitsha road on rigid pavement and the construction of a flyover bridge at Abakpa junction to be refunded through MTN Tax Credit. He expressed hope that MTN would still execute the construction of the second phase of the 107km x 2 road dualization.  He added, “Why Enugu State government is intervening is because of the slow pace of work by the contractors and because of funding issues.  The essence of tax credit is for funds to be made available. And so, I don't see RCC going to keep to their promise to finish this project in 6 months. My advice to MTN is to look for another contractor within that axis if they want to get the job done.  Division of labour is even the best. While they are doing the road, and if Nigercat is doing a good job, you can give them greater scope to do if you want to finish that job.” He warned that contractors delaying jobs are on their own as Federal Government, as a matter of policy, would not accept a phased handover of projects and has phased out VOP in contract administration.  He maintained that the contractors must in line with the Renewed Hope agenda maintain all roads handled by them until they are fully completed and handed over to Federal Government.  He further said to RCC Ltd, “When where you are working is almost going bad, it's better to get it finished. As a policy, we are not doing a phased handover. You have to finish your job, and then we inspect it, and if you take 10 years to finish your job, it's your duty to maintain the one that you have done that is failing” He re-emphasized the policy of the current administration, which de-emphasizes VOP but is open to contract review using prevailing rates.  He said to RCC Ltd, “We've agreed on how to review the projects from Certificate No. 12, and it is the prevailing rates that we're going to give to you.  And so, there will be no VOP when we review the job, and we should all work very hard to see that within two weeks, we get these documents down to BPP and see if we can take it to FEC this month.”  He, however, noted that the slow pace in the progress of work on the Enugu – Onitsha road dualization does not lie in funding but in the execution by the contractors.   ...

FEDERAL GOVERNMENT APPRAISES PERFORMANCE OF ALL ON GOING PROJECTS AWARDED TO JULIUS BERGER, TASKS THEM ON TIMELY PROJECT DELIVERY In keeping  with the directive of the Federal Executive Council with respect  to all inherited and new projects being handled by a number  of multinational companies  being  delayed due to issues of price differentials or poor  funding, the Federal Ministry of Works has opened a decisive discussion with Julius Berger Plc on all the inherited and new projects handled  by them with a view  to appraising  their performance and take decisions on funding and milestones completion of all such awarded projects, as part  of the measures of the Renewed Hope administration to mitigate  the sufferings of road users at this moment of economic challenges.  This was the outcome of the crucial meeting of the Ministry with the management of Julius Berger Plc held at the Ministry's Headquarters, Mabushi-Abuja on 7th August 2024. Speaking on the resolutions reached  during  the meeting, the Honourable Minister of Works, His Excellency, Sen. Engr. Nweze David Umahi, CON reiterated  the firmness of the  Ministry on issues of price  control, commitment  of contractors  to project execution, value  for money, and uniform pricing location  by location. He decried the unacceptable conditions of some of the inherited and new projects of all ongoing federal roads awarded to Julius Berger Plc, which are within the economic corridor of the nation and which were being delayed due to issues of price differentials or lack of effective funding. He listed the projects affected to include: the 82km by 2 dualization of section of Abuja-Kaduna- Zaria- Kano Highway currently handled by Julius Berger; phase 2 of Lagos-Ibadan expressway, whose pavement elements had been changed from asphalt to concrete; section 2A bypass at the 2nd Niger Bridge whose pavement element was changed to concrete; the Bodo-bonny road funded by NLNG Tax Credit; the under deck structural works at 3rd Mainland bridge, Iddo bridge and Carter Bridge. The Honourable Minister urged the contractor to be open to a mutually agreed modality for milestone execution and funding of the projects at reviewed rates as may be agreed upon and approved by Federal Executive Council.  He said," Our job is to develop this mechanism based on FEC directives, and engage with the Honourable Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, and finally we take our recommendations back to Mr. President, and of course FEC for consideration."  On  the  section of Abuja Kaduna- Zaria-Kano road agreed to be handled by Julius Berger Plc, he commended  the quality of work being done but directed  the contractor to stick to one carriageway at a time within the scope and conclude their works.  The contractor was further directed to, within three weeks, fill the two carriageways with stone base and level it to alleviate the sufferings of road users. He further said, "We agreed that this project, within their own corridor, will last for 14 months.  Project execution should be deployed in four sections, and we'll be paying Berger ₦20 billion every month to get the job completed. On the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, phase 2, he said the Ministry had no choice but to determine the contract and ask Bureau of Public Procurement for No Objection for selective tendering.  He recalled, "We changed the elements of the pavement from asphalt to concrete, and the total cost we came up with based on prevailing cost is ₦153 billion. But they are offering ₦258 billion. Since we've been on this since September 2023, we have no choice but to determine this contract.  And then we ask BPP for No Objection for selective tendering, whereby we will be sending our own advice of ₦153 billion to BPP, and we send their own of ₦258 billion to BPP, and then we invite other contractors to also bid.  This we will conclude within the next one month so that we can get that job concluded". On the Second Niger Bridge Bypass handled by Julius Berger Plc, he said, "one of the bypasses, which is 17.27kilometer by two on asphalt was awarded to Julius Berger.  We changed the pavement elements to concrete and the cost that we came up with was ₦133 billion. Berger almost gave us more than twice our cost, which is ₦279 billion. We have disagreed with this cost at the time of negotiation since September 2023.  We've also decided to get the project back to BPP and invite more contractors to bid because this is public fund". On the Bodo-Bonny project being funded by NLNG Tax Credit, the Honourable Minister expressed concerns that Julius Berger Plc, though had mobilized back to site after additional cost of N80 billon was approved for the work, but reports showed that their pace of work was slow. He was further  worried  that they came up with a longer timeline of 16 months within which  to deliver  the project  against the December 2024 deadline proposed  by the  Ministry.  He said,  "Finally, we agreed on an additional cost of ₦80 billion, which will bring the project to about ₦280 billion fixed and non-varying with the unit rates agreed, and we agreed that this project will not increase in cost beyond ₦280 billion".  He urged the contractor to shift ground to a shorter timeline for the sake of the people. Concerning the under deck structural works at 3rd Mainland Bridge, Iddo bridge, Carter Bridge in Lagos State, he commended  the contractor for  doing fantastic work.  He said," We have no problems on pricing. We've paid 30% due to the intervention of Mr. President.  They're working, and we've directed that each time they put a certificate and we still have funds, we will pay within seven days because this job they're doing is very critical.  For 53 years, those bridges were constructed, no maintenance, and so the deterioration is so horrible and frightening. Right now, we've closed the 3rd Mainland Bridge against big trucks. On the Odukpani road in Cross River State, he said, "We have got approval from Federal Executive Council to increase their project by ₦36 billion, thereby raising the project cost from ₦54 billion to ₦90 billion.  This was just approved for a few days ago. We want to know their response on that. Yes, we have agreed to change the pavement to concrete, and our position is that they have to engage on one carriageway when we agree on this.   It is when we agree on all these ones where that we do not have complete funding that we can enter into the second phase of what FEC directed, and that  is to discuss the mechanism". In his remarks, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Yakubu Adam Kofarmata, PhD, stated that some of the ongoing road projects handled by contractors required emergency works to alleviate the sufferings of road users and assured that all the supervising engineers would be on their toes to ensure  that the Ministry's  policy of Operation Free our Roads was carried  out by all the contractors handling  federal government roads nationwide. On the section of Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Highway handled by Julius Berger Plc, He said, "we have requested this emergency work due to the flow of information and the requests that we've been getting from Nigerians plying Abuja to Kano, more especially Abuja to Kaduna road, where a number of big craters have been created on that road". Hon. Barr. Orji Uchenna Orji Special Adviser (Media) to the Honourable Minister of Works   ...

FG COMMENCES WORK ON THE ABUJA- KADUNA- ZARIA- KANO HIGHWAY AND SETS TIMELINE FOR COMPLETION, LAUNCHES NATIONWIDE OPERATION FREE OUR ROADS In the avowed determination of the Renewed Hope administration of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR to complete the dualization of the 375.9 km Abuja - Kaduna - Zaria - Kano Federal Highway, the federal government  has commenced  immediate work on the dualization of the uncompleted sections of the Highway from Abuja to Kano in North West Geo-Political Zone of the country. The Honourable Minister of Works, His Excellency, Sen Engr. Nweze David Umahi CON stated  this  during  the flag- off of the completion of the Abuja- Kaduna - Zaria - Kano Highway and the site handover  of the 38km dual carriageway section of the road to Dangote Group  of Companies at  chainage 0+000 Zuba on 27th July 2024. Speaking during the flag - off and handover ceremony, the Honourable Minister charged the three companies handling the three sections of the project to show absolute  devotion to the completion of the project, noting  that  the Ministry would look at the need for project rate review to cushion the effects of the increase in material costs, given the last review that was done about 9 months ago . He said, "So the first section is 38 kilometers by two, which is 76 kilometers.   The work is starting today, with palliatives and earthworks, and then they will now start to put reinforced concrete pavement"  The Honourable Minister used the opportunity  to launch the federal government's 'Operation Free our Roads', which is aimed at making  sure that all the Federal Roads under rehabilitation  are made motorable starting  from this rainy  season. He said, ".So we are using this as a point of contact to flag off Free our Roads all over the country.  And so, they will use stone base to put and free all the potholes. In failed portions or where we have potholes, they will all be filled, both carriageways.  Then, they will continue to maintain one carriageway for vehicles to follow while they consistently walk on one carriageway. He emphasized the need for the Ministry's engineers to take the task seriously, including those of FERMA" He stated, "And this operation, Free Our Roads, is not only for the Ministry of Works, but also for FERMA.  We're going to put our eyes, all the directors, and all the Zonal engineers of FERMA must take this thing very seriously." And so I will, on behalf of Mr. President, with all gratitude to God and the cooperation of everybody, flag off Operation Free Our Roads and flag off the completion of Abuja to Kaduna, to Zaria, to Kano road, to the glory of God. Amen. While at the section handledby Julius Berger Plc, the Honourable Minister commended  the contractor for already starting work and doing  a good job, and maintained  that the federal government expected  the entire  project to be completed  and delivered by May 2025. He said, "So what we will be discussing with Berger is what can we do to finish this job within May 29th. This is very important because we don't want to stay here beyond May 29th, 2025. And so what Berger cannot finish, we would also have to take it over and give to Dangote under Tax Credit and for reinforced concrete pavement."   ...