The Federal Government is contemplating the termination of several abandoned projects valued at N6 trillion, inherited from previous successive governments that have no clear source of funding.
The Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, disclosed this while briefing state house correspondents after meeting President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Umahi added that the President Bola Tinubu has approved the use of concrete technology instead of asphalt for the construction and rehabilitation of roads nationwide.
Also, the president had approved some road construction projects and plans to toll some roads in the country, Nairametrics reported.
According to him, concrete technology would offer greater durability and cost-effectiveness compared to other alternatives, urging all contractors operating in Nigeria to uphold global best practices in their projects.
Following a meeting with contractors responsible for projects in the North-eastern region, he reiterated that the ministry currently oversees N14 trillion worth of ongoing projects, covering 18,000 kilometres of roads.
He further emphasized that going forward, contractors should complete their work within a maximum of four years and should not exceed this timeline while being on-site.
Umahi expressed his dissatisfaction with the prolonged duration of certain contracts, some of which had been ongoing for up to 20 years. He stressed that this extended timeline was detrimental to both the contractors and the clients involved in these projects.
He said, “We are introducing concrete road technology and some of you are not happy about it. Some are saying it is too expensive, but we have to try both and see which is better.
“In any case, any contractor with an ongoing project that is not willing to cooperate with us for a redesign with concrete road technology, with 50 year period free of maintenance, we’ll demand for performance bond.
“A situation and time when roads are built on asphalt and within two to three years the project is back to square one is gone.”'
Umahi identified several factors contributing to road failures, including substandard workmanship by contractors, the importation of low-quality bitumen into the country, and the application of inadequate asphalt thickness during construction.
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