From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
The federal government has terminated contract numbers 6136, 6137, and 6138 with Mothercat Limited, Dantata & Sawoe Construction Limited, and RCC Limited, respectively.
The projects affected by the termination are:
- The dualisation of Obajana-Benin Road, Section II (Okene-Auchi) in Kogi/Edo State
- The dualisation of Obajana-Benin Road, Section III (Auchi-Ehor) in Edo State
- The dualisation of Obajana-Benin Road, Section IV (Ehor-Benin) in Edo State
In a statement, the Ministry of Works said the termination of the contracts became necessary in view of the inordinate delay of the affected companies in job performance and their failure, neglect, and/or refusal to fulfil their contractual obligations as required by the Standard Conditions of Contract. This has affected the timely completion of the projects and thus resulted in the expiration of the contracts.
According to the statement, the projects, which were awarded on 12 December 2012, were advertently abandoned by the contractors, and no genuine commitment or good faith was shown towards executing the projects after accepting the considerations offered by the Federal Government, thereby exposing road users to untold hardship due to the deplorable condition of the projects.
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The Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, has directed the engineers in charge to take the necessary steps to enter the sites and take over the works from the affected companies. He further directed the engineers concerned to, upon doing the needful, arrange with the affected companies for a joint measurement of work done by the companies preparatory to taking over the sites. This directive is without prejudice to the exercise of other rights of the Federal Government under the contract.
He warned that the Federal Ministry of Works under his watch will not condone acts of unseriousness and sabotage by contractors whose plan is to become a clog in the wheel of progress of the Renewed Hope administration, which is determined to change the ugly narrative of Nigeria’s road infrastructure. He further warned that, going forward, the government will not hesitate to terminate all projects that are funded but are non-performing.
In March this year, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved a total of N757 billion as augmentation for the dualisation of the 489km Obajana-Benin Road.
The project was initially awarded to four contractors in 2012: CGC, Mothercat, Dantata & Sawoe, and RCC, at a total cost of N122 billion for light rehabilitation.
In 2018, the past administration reviewed the project and dualised it, increasing it to 489km. The Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) subsequently issued a ‘No Objection’ to the revised project.
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