38 unfinished road projects worth N979 billion were transferred to President Bola Tinubu’s administration by the Muhammadu Buhari administration, according to findings.
The initiatives were discovered through a review of the 2023 budget and a cross-check with the EYEMARK national monitoring and evaluation platform, which Buhari introduced in December of the previous year.
According to reports, several important road networks were left unfinished because of a lack of funding and other issues, despite the former President’s assurances that they would be finished before the end of his administration.
The expansion of the Abuja-Keffi dual carriageway and the dualization of the Keffi-Akwanga-Lafia-Makurdi road in Nasarawa State are two crucial projects.
The Lafia bypass, the 9th mile (Enugu)-Otukpo-Makurdi Road in Enugu, and Benue State Phase II, which reportedly costs about N32.5 billion, are other significant projects that still need to be finished.
The restoration of the Ikorodu-Shagamu Road in Lagos State, including the access road to Mosimi, at a cost of N100 million, and the full-scale development of Federal Capital Terriory Highway 105 (Kuje Road), from the airport motorway to the outer Southern Motorway with Spur at Kyami District, both cost N54.95 billion, are also on the list.
The cost of doubling Akure-Ado-Ekiti Road in Ondo and Ekiti states was estimated at N90 billion.
Other initiatives include the N5 billion dualization of Obajana Junction to Benin phase 2: Section 11 (Okene to Auchi).
Other unfinished road projects include the construction of Bichi township roads ($1.40 billion), Dawakin Tofa-Gwarzo-Dayi Road in Kano ($2 billion), the 5.4-kilometer Abuja-Keffi Motorway, and the 220-kilometer Keffi-Akwanga-Lafia-Makurdi federal roads, which were awarded for N166.36 billion.
Others include the N101.1bn Keffi-Akwanga-Lafia road project, the N100m Chanchangi bridge along the Takum-Wukari road in Taraba State, the dualization of the NJattu-Fugar-Agenebode road, and the N250m Irekpa-Fugar-Agenebode road reconstruction in Edo State.
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The Lagos-Ibadan Motorway is a different project that is currently being managed by RCC and Julius Berger Nigeria Plc and is said to cost about N315 billion.
Although the 126.6 km road is reportedly 85 percent complete, the protracted construction has caused drivers and commuters untold hardship, with many of them spending several hours in traffic each day.
The Bidda-Sacci-Nupeko Road and the Nupeko/Patigi Bridge, which connect Nupeko and Patigi in the Niger/Kwara States, were both given construction budgets of N400 million each.
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In an interview on Sunday, Adedamola Kuti, the director of Highways South-West, gave the assurance that all unfinished projects would be finished.
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The way things are done in the federal civil service is very different, he observed.
You would probably agree that the previous administration took over unfinished road projects, and they finished some of them while starting new ones. If the new administration has taken over the unfinished tasks, we will make sure that those projects are finished. No project will be abandoned while we are working hard.
The Federal Government has N25 billion set aside to pay off local contractors this year, according to information obtained by our correspondent on Sunday.
The sum was allocated in the 2023 budget.
However, it is a far cry from the N11 trillion that previous administrations owed to local contractors.
The construction companies that finished building a number of highways and other infrastructure projects across the nation and received certificates of completion have protested the government’s failure to pay them for contracts that were completed up to 12 years ago.
The government owes the association’s members N28 billion, according to Dandy Rowland, the president of the Local Contractors Association of Nigeria, who made this claim in an interview last year.
Additionally, Babatunde Fashola, the previous minister of works and housing, admitted during his defence of the ministry’s 2023 budget that the government still owes highway contractors for ongoing projects a total of N765 billion in unpaid completion certificates.
A highly placed source in the ministry, however, claimed that the delay in payment was due to the synchronisation of the amounts with the finance ministry when our correspondent sought an update on the situation.
The source also said that there was no set timetable for paying the contractors.
Our figures are still being aligned with those of the finance ministry, the source stated. No money has been paid yet, and the completion date for the harmonisation is unknown.
According to information in the meantime, payments to contractors working on ongoing road projects have not been halted by the current administration’s freeze on the financial transactions of the ministries, departments, and agencies.
According to a source, despite the suspension of recurrent expenditure, contractors are still receiving their paychecks because they fall under the capital vote category and are paid directly by the federal government.
“All recurring expenses in the ministry have been delayed as a result of the recent MDAs accounts ban; even our duty tour allowance has not been paid. All payments have been halted due to the current compromise of the Treasury Single Account (TSA). Only urgent payments—such as those made to purchase a portrait of the new president—can be handled by the ministry.
“Contractors are still being paid, though, as a result of the federal government’s capital vote, which governs their budget. Because if it’s stopped, the country’s development will halt, all of our contractors are still being paid in full.
Mrs. Blessing Adams-Lere, the ministry’s spokeswoman, did not return calls, making attempts to contact her fruitless. As of the time of publication, she hadn’t texted back.
