The Federal Authorities, by the Ministry of Works, has threatened to revoke a bit of the Abuja-Kaduna freeway contract being dealt with by Julius Berger.
The Minister of Works, David Umahi, mentioned this throughout a go to to inaugurate the rehabilitation of the freeway on the Zuba space of the Federal Capital Territory on Thursday in Abuja.
The PUNCH studies that the contract was awarded to Julius Berger in 2018 when former President Muhammadu Buhari was in energy.
Whereas the Kaduna-Zaria part has been accomplished and the Zaria-Kano part is sort of finished, the Abuja-Kaduna part has recorded 27 per cent progress in 6 years.
Talking throughout the occasion, Umahi accused Julius Berger of enjoying politics with the freeway to make the present administration look dangerous.
He mentioned the corporate was in search of N1.5trn for the challenge, but it surely was reviewed to N740bn by the Federal Government Council.
He mentioned, “Berger mentioned to do that complete job, it wants N1.5tn; we began negotiation in September final yr, writing letters each week. Finally, we informed them that regardless of those they have been requesting, it might nonetheless take them 4 years to finish as there have been site visitors jams and kidnappings on the highway. We offered the choice of balancing the highway into three, which the President authorised. Once we did that, Berger accepted it and the speed.
“However we didn’t know they have been enjoying video games by persevering with to play delay ways, and at the moment, their facet was N710bn each accomplished and people to be finished. Later, they got here again that they wished a rise to N740bn. We went to FEC, and so they authorised it solely final week, saying they wanted one other enhance to N903bn.
“Even when we settle for it, different contractors will need the identical, and it’ll enhance the challenge to about N4bn per kilometre, which is on asphalt.
“Our place is that we’re not rising this contract for Julius Berger past N740bn, and this sport should be over. If they aren’t doing it, we are going to terminate the job and we are going to get individuals to do it with the identical high quality of coastal. If they’ll depart the job, we are going to do it on concrete.
“They’ve put the challenge into politics, so they’re utilizing it to de-market our administration, and we are saying sufficient is sufficient.”
He said that the highway, which is 375km dualised (750km), will see the addition of seven.5 kilometres in Kogi and Kano States.
Talking earlier, the ministry‘s Director of Freeway Building, Engr. Umar Bakare mentioned the challenge was de-scope and rewarded the excellent sections of the challenge to 2 different individuals of Dangote and BUA along with Julius Berger.
He mentioned the size of the highway to be constructed by Dangote is 38 kilometres twin inside part one and can value N145bn with a 14-month completion date.
Beneath the brand new contract, Dangote Group and BUA have been enlisted to assemble some sections of concrete pavement.
Equally, the challenge, which was previously funded by the Presidential Infrastructure Growth Fund, will now be paid for by the Tax Credit score Scheme.