FG gives contractor 15 months to complete Enugu-Onitsha road rehabilitation

The Federal Ministry of Works has directed the contractor handling the Enugu-Onitsha dual carriage way to complete rehabilitation of the road on or before May 10, 2026.

The ministry also pleaded with manufacturers of cement to crash the price from N9,500 down to N7,000 to enable for rehabilitation of most Nigeria’s roads, particularly now that the foreign exchange rate has stabilised downwards.

In a meeting with the project contractor and financier of the Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment (Tax Credit) Scheme in Abuja, on Wednesday, the Minister for Works, Engr Dave Umahi, warned that going forward there will be no variation on the project and must be in accordance with the procedure contained in the Conditions of Contract and not at the whims and caprices of the contractor.

Umahi reiterated that the Federal Ministry of Works is unwavering in its commitment towards ensuring that the contractor handling the project under the Tax Credit Scheme is made to ensure quality and speedy delivery of the project.

“We have to put the records straight that this ministry has the responsibility to ensure quality delivery of work by contractors,” Umahi said.

He recounted the various inspection visits he made to contractors’ project sites and how it had caused them to brace up for ensuring quality and speed in project delivery.

Umahi called on the manufacturers of cement, which is a key element in the construction industry, especially on the use of Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement, to please reduce the cost of cement to N7,000 as the price of dollar has drastically reduced.

“The cost of petrol is coming down and efforts are being made by Mr. President to fix the road. I’m happy that the policies of Mr. President, are working. Today, a dollar is about N1,400. And let me use the opportunity to express dissatisfaction with the cost of cement.

“Our contractors have called and complained that they wanted to move back to asphalt. We are using this medium to tell the cement manufacturers that at the time, the dollar was almost N2,000, they increased cement from N7,500. Why should today that the President has brought dollar to stability to about N1400, and is still going down, why should cement be selling for N9,500?

“We are requesting cement manufacturers to bring down the cost of cement to N7,000. If after one week they don’t do that, I have to complain officially to Mr. President.”

President Bola Tinubu’s former spokesman in the South East, Dr Josef Onoh, commended the President for continuing with inheritance projects, stating that abandonment of inheritance projects had been the bane of previous administrations.