Umahi orders withdrawal of N2.8bn road palliative over unexecuted work

By Chukwuma Umeorah and Faheem Lawal

Minister of Works, David Umahi, has given 24 hours to the Osun State Controller of the Federal Ministry of Works to withdraw a N2.8 billion certificate issued for palliative work on the Ibadan-Ife-Ilesa Road, saying the work reflected in the certificate was not carried out.

Umahi gave the directive on Sunday during the continuation of his inspection tour of the road project, expressing dissatisfaction after personally inspecting about 20 kilometres of the road. “I am on this road, about 20 kilometres and I have not seen where the palliative was done. But you already gave a palliative certificate of N2.8 billion,” he said.

The minister also directed the contractor handling the project, CBC, to carry out palliative repairs on the affected sections of the road before any further certification is issued. “I am giving CBC to genuinely go and do the palliatives. I don’t want to see any potholes,” he said.

He warned officials against certifying projects without proper supervision and cautioned the Osun controller against approving work that has not been executed. “No more staying in your hotel room and then writing certificates. If I catch you again on my instructions, you are back to Abuja,” he said.

Explaining his approach to project monitoring, the minister added: “My friendship is based on the work. I don’t have a permanent friend or permanent enemy.”

Speaking during the inspection, an official of CBC Construction Company, Yuan, said substantial progress had been made on the project and expressed confidence that the contractor would deliver on schedule. “Between October last year when I came here and now, we have done 65 kilometres for the carriageway. We are confident we’ll complete the project on time and ensure good quality,” he said.

Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Works, Akinola Alabi, described the Ibadan-Ife-Ilesa Road as a critical economic corridor for the South-West and said significant progress had been recorded on the project.

“The road has been a major headache for residents of Egbeda Local Government and the wider federal constituency.

“As we’re coming down from Iwo Road, you can see that a lot of work has been done already,”  he said.

Alabi also welcomed the minister’s directive for the contractor to complete the inner and outer shoulders of the road, saying it would accelerate its opening to motorists.

“I’m very happy about what the minister said. He has directed the contractors to do the inner shoulders and the outer shoulder, so the road will be ready for us to ply, right? Because you can see the road is there, but you can’t ply it yet, so with his directive now, it will be easy for our people to start using that road,” he said.

He commended the minister’s intervention and said the issues identified would help improve the quality of the project. “I am pleased that the Minister identified the shortcomings in the work and reprimanded the Chinese contractors over that,” he said.

He noted that the inspection team had travelled from the border section of the project to the current location and observed extensive work along the corridor, while urging the contractor to implement the minister’s recommendations to ensure better project delivery.