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… urge N’assembly to declare a state of emergency on roads
David Umahi, the Nigerian Minister of Works has announced that over N19 trillion is required to complete 2,604 ongoing road projects in the country. This indicates a N6 trillion increase from the N13 trillion earlier stated by the minister.
Umahi who disclosed this in a press conference in Abuja on Monday, said that the increase was due to the high foreign exchange rate which is impacting the price of bitumen. He also stated that the escalation in costs highlights the growing challenges associated with infrastructure development and the need for additional funding.
He said, “Before we came on board, there were these issues of variation of price and foreign exchange differential. Some contractors were claiming them. Essentially, two of them. But that less priority that he talked about was that we stopped them. And we have no regrets about stopping them.
“And let me say to him that the projects Mr. President inherited were a total of 2,604 projects as of May 29, 2023. The total cost was N13 trillion. That’s what the President inherited. And a debt to contractors of N1.6 trillion.
“And when you look at the variation because of the fuel subsidy removal and the floating of the naira against the dollar, if these projects are reviewed, the cost of these projects will increase to N19 trillion, just to complete the ongoing projects. Mr. President manifested all the projects in the 2024 budget with the hope of giving him time to look for resources, including loans, to do these projects.
“But the truth I want the public to know is that N13 trillion projects inherited, today it should be over N20 trillion because, at that time, it was N500 to a dollar.
Today the dollar is at 1,700. At that time the ton of bitumen was like 600,000 per ton. But today it is 1.2 million per ton. And so you have to understand this. There is a transition before we stabilize.”
The minister added that about 10 projects have been terminated by the current administration as they have been awarded over one and a half decades ago.
According to the works minister, the President should be commended for paying attention to special mega road projects, and there is a priority given to the ministry in terms of the supplementary budget for 2023/2024, while they inherited N1.6tn in debt to contractors.
On the issues of the Federal Emergency Road Maintenance Agency, Umahi maintained that their hands are clean and there is nothing to hide. According to him, some contractors are unhappy with the ministry to the point of wanting the removal of the minister.
He noted, “There is no way you expect some project that lasted up to 20 years to be done in one year. The Chairman said we are awarding projects that we are not ready to execute. And that is where the oversight function comes in. You have the records of what we have awarded.
“Each time projects are awarded, we go to the press and then we announce it. And so, you must now go through those places to find out whether these projects are awarded to our brothers and sisters and are not executed or executed.
“We have terminated over 10 projects following due process. Some of them have lasted 17 years, 18 years.”
Regarding the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano dual carriageway projects awarded to Julius Berger Plc, he reiterated that after the expiration of seven days, “we will have no option but to revoke it and award the project to another construction firm to complete it.”
He therefore hinted that the Ministry has a total of N600 billion in certified jobs for 2024 and N726 billion under the NNPC tax credit scheme.
Umahi further noted that insecurity issues in the North West have delayed some of the ongoing projects, with 50 workers kidnapped for ransom by bandits.
He said, “We have had a lot of security issues. Expatriates have been killed. The contractor’s workers have been abducted, over 50 of them, not less than five times. That notwithstanding, through the help of Mr. President, as he directed the National Security Advisor, we have not demobilized from there.
“They are assisting tremendously in providing security. We are still forging ahead. And that project is over 60 per cent done.
“Our total budget in 2024 was about N650bn. 2,600 projects plus 330 supplementary projects plus the new projects in 2024 is not a tea party at all. It requires commitment. It requires dedication, which we are doing.”
