FG Will No Longer Accept Road Contract Certificate for Payment Generated by One Person – Umahi .....No one will make unnecessary request during road construction – Eleme LGA Chairman. The Honourable Minister of Works H.E Sen (Engr) David Nweze Umahi has remarked that the Federal Government will no longer accept road contract certificate for payment generated by one person, he made this statement while inspecting some roads within Rivers and Akwa Ibom States on Wednesday.   He said “No longer will certificate for payment be generated by one person, contractor must sign it, resident engineer as well. state controllers, regional controllers, and they will all endure inspections are done, state Commissioners of Works shall generate work done, prepare the certificate with calculations and geotechnical reports, sketches and valuation, then they will bring it to me, the moment I see that things are working I will sign within 6hours”.   “I have directed that any project that motor users cannot go through the entire length and breadth of the project awarded to a contractor, I will not sign the certificate, contractors must maintain all the roads,  the length and breath within their contract , I am directing the controllers and Directors of the Regions to ensure between Abuja and Port Harcourt they must fix the remedial works within the next 14days” He briefed the press.   The Minister, speaking further said “how could a  payment certificate be given for a road that has failed and the contractor is on site and you turn around to blame the leaders, who signs the papers ?, you  sign the paper and originate the certificate but I have directed that enough is enough , they must show me how increase in our contracts come about , anyone can sign a paper for them to pay but as for me I will not sign anything that I don’t know how it came about if you want to do ashphalt continue with it but you must sign a performance bond that the road must not fail within the life time of the project , I want Nigerians to know that overloading is not responsible for failure of the road , most of the contractors have jobs in more than ten locations with two equipment so they cannot cope with the volume of jobs”.   The Minister had also   directed that any contractor without COREN Certified Engineer must not be allowed to work, he said any consultant or civil servant that behaved the way they have been behaving their certificate would be withdrawn.   Umahi said President Ahmed Bola Tinubu is determined to end the sufferings of the road users in Nigeria, he said “road is everything to this country, road is everything to Commerce, road is everything to Solid Mineral, Medicine, Education, Agriculture and to Food Security".   The Honourable Minister was approached by youths of Eleme during his inspection for upgrading of four lanes to six lanes for Eleme junction to Onne junction road projects in Rivers State where he promised them that he would work with the youths to ensure that the road does not remain the same.   Earlier the Eleme Local Government Area Chairman, Hon. Obarilomate Ollor who spoke on behalf of the youths said “ I thank the Minister for coming to inspect this road on behalf of Mr President , this bad road has been responsible for the untimely death of so many people and more that ten thousands of vehicles ply this route daily , and from what you have said the youths will cooperate with you to deliver this project and we will not make unnecessary request”.   Some of the projects inspected by the Minister in Rivers and Akwa Ibom states included Aba- Port Harcourt road, Bodo Bonny road, Ogoni bridge, Reconstruction of Abak – Ekparakwa –Ette- Ikot Abasi road and the dualization of the East West Road Section four at Eket By Pass. ...

Umahi Invites Directors of Ferma Engineers in Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, And Akwa Ibom Over Failures on East West Road  .....Minister passes vote of no confidence on the construction of East West Road The Honourable Minister of Works H.E Sen (Engr) David Nweze Umahi in his continuous assessment of the Nigerian roads has travelled by road from Abuja, through Kogi, Edo, Delta, Bayelsa up to Port Harcourt in Rivers State through the famous much talked about East West Road to inspect the progress of work on the highway by himself on Tuesday the 19th of September,2023.   The Minister said  “ I have invited  all the Directors of Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) with their engineers from Edo , Delta , Bayelsa and Akwa Ibom , they should be able to attend to the small failures  and redeem all the places that  failed on the road  and  I will hold a meeting with Niger Delta Development Commission (NNDC ) Managing Director  this evening  to find out  how we can collaborate on this road”.   On the East West road he said  he had discussed with the Edo State  Governor that the  East West road passed through his state and that was what is causing the traffic jams and hold up, he said they have to design a bye pass, so that the heavy trucks can stop ,moving through the town , it is by so doing that the gridlock can be  stopped and business activity in the state can improve.   Umahi said “We have to look at our constituency projects to see how our constituency projects can be meaningful and impactful and I will be discussing this with the leadership of the House of Representative and the Senate“.   While berating SETRACO construction company working on the East West Road the Minister said “the gimmicks the contractors are using is excuse of overloading.   I am passing A VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE on the construction of this road, I won’t certify anything on this road, the road has failed, and it is not acceptable to us.  the road  is full of pot holes , we have paid over N71b and the road has completely gone down, and the road has been further  reviewed from N44b to 144b billion , apart from the beautiful bridge you have built , the road has completely gone down , project manager tell your team to meet me in Abuja on Monday to tell me  what has caused the failure on the road, I do not accept it is overloading truck, our roads are not properly being constructed and I demand that these roads must be properly constructed , it is a fight that Nigerians must win and Mr. President must win this fight for the sake of the Nigerian people to truly enjoy the dividends of a democratic Government. ...

Minister of Works, State Governments in Joint Inspection of Edo and Delta Federal Roads. ....."I have just directed that every project must have a COREN registered engineer”- Umahi. .....Community Group, Driver express hope of having a good road soon. The Honourable Minister of Works H.E. Sen (Engr) David Nweze Umahi, the Deputy Governor of Delta State, Chief (Sir) Monday John Onyeme and the Commissioner for Roads and Bridges in Edo State Osazemen Ethan Uzamere with some stakeholders toured some ongoing road construction works in Edo and Delta States respectively on Monday.   During the joint inspection, Levant Construction Company that is handling some of the Federal Government Road projects linking Edo and Delta States in Benin were directed by the Minister of Works to do the maintenance work of the construction of Benin – Sapele road at night and that work should start immediately, while the bad spots should be made motorable within 30days.   Umahi said “we have directed them to immediately maintain the road , we are redesigning  the road irrespective of the fact that they have gotten advance payment , we are redesigning the road on concrete , We have agreed with the commissioner of Works and Bridges in Edo State that  the drains should be opened so  that the water can go out  in order for  the contractor to maintain the road, I am giving the contractor  7days to come up with the new design so that we all look at it together”.   The Minister said “ I have looked at the road projects from Abuja to Benin City  , the intention of the past administration all the way from Abuja to Benin City , very wonderful intention I commend the initiative but Nigerians do not have value for all money spent on the roads, I was on the  road for 14hours with all the securities attached to me and if I could be on the road for 14hours imagine what ordinary Nigerians are passing through without security , this is not acceptable ".   "Unless we change our procurement process, this country cannot move forward. I am very happy that Mr President is a man of infrastructure, he is a man that knows how every aspect of this country will be reset, I am very happy about that, and I will do everything within my power to support him” Umahi told the states stakeholders.   He said , “On the side of the contractors there are no good intentions , they don’t have enough personnel that are qualified , I have just directed that every project must have a Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN )registered engineer  to be the project manager for all  contracts for every company on the road and the person must not have less than 15years on road construction and I have also directed that we shall no more do surface dressing on our road shoulders , I have directed that all projects must stop and be redesigned on concrete , the truth is that non of these roads that are built from Abuja to Benin will last more than 5years and that is very unfortunate , roads are failing because most of the contractors don’t do what is  called penetration test , we also have adulterated bitumen , the bitumen imported into this country are adulterated , they should go to Ondo and Ogun State and develop our abundant bitumen there “.   “We don’t want to put anybody out of business but we must develop our economy, they should employ our engineers; material engineers, geo technical engineers, surveyors, structural engineers and road engineers , every project should not have less than seven professionals supervising it for Ministry of Works, we are going to reset our road construction so that the people can smile again under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu” the Minister reiterated.   The Deputy Governor of Delta State, Chief (Sir) Monday John Onyeme after touring  Benin –Sapele –Warri road , Sapele Roundabout , ongoing dualization of  Sapele –Ewu road , Sapele – Agbor road and  Nigerian Port Authority roads in Delta State with the  Minister at a press briefing said to the Minister “ Thank you for coming to see for yourself  the importance of caring to do these roads , I do know that you have been tested , we have no fear that you will do it . We assure you of Delta State support and we will give you 100% cooperation”.   Earlier in Benin, a community group known as Sapele Road Bypass Axis Group (SARBAR), through its Association General Secretary Pastor Moses Omo- Osagiede said “We are happy with the visit of the Honourable Minister to Edo State on road inspection and we do hope that the maintenance work will be done quickly”.   Similarly, a bus driver Mr Emmanuel Felix who volunteered to speak on behalf of other drivers who ply Sapele Road Bypass Axis and the Benin –Sapele –Warri Road regularly said, “we hope with the inspection of the road by the Minister and this team, the contractor will do a good job and not their usual fake road works”. ...