The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has directed contractors handling Federal Government road projects to remain fully active on their sites, warning against project abandonment.
The Controller of Works in Ondo State, Olajide Hussein, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Akure.
Hussein said the minister gave the directive during a recent meeting that “no contractor handling federal road project should leave the site.”
He explained that the order of the minister was with no exception to any of the contractors.
Speaking on the Akure-Ado road project, Hussein assured motorists and residents that construction on an outstanding section of the road would resume soon.
The controller also said that the Federal Government had also reviewed the construction method for the remaining section of the project, with concrete to be used instead of asphalt.
“The Minister of Works has directed that no contractor should leave their project sites. The Akure to Ado-Ekiti contractors are no exception and we expect them to return to the site immediately.
“You know the Federal Government has re-awarded the other section to be on concrete instead of asphalt for the first section. So any moment now, the contractor will resume work on site,” he said.
According to him, the contractor has about 12 months to complete the second carriageway once work resumes.
He said with the minister’s directive, all contractors were expected to return to site and accelerate work on the outstanding carriageway, while the revised concrete construction method is expected to facilitate completion of the project.
NAN reports that the project was flagged off in May 2023 with the Federal Executive Council approving the re-award of the project 50-kilometre dualisation project.
The Akure-Ondo State boundary section was awarded to Samchase Nigeria Ltd. and Horizon Construction Company Ltd. with a 24-month completion period.
Kopek Construction Ltd. received the Ekiti boundary-Ado-Ekiti section with a 30-month completion timeline.
Hussein said that the timeline for the completion of the second carriageway project at a very fast pace should be about 12 months.
