*As Contractors reject FG’s order to return to site without payment, review
*Laud Reps for opposing concrete roads
By Felix Khanoba and Daniel Tyokua
Contractors handling federal government road projects have opposed a recent directive to return to site without reviewing their contract sums, saying they are not to blame for inflation and fall in the value of the Naira.
They however, applauded the House of Representatives for suspending moves by the Works Minister, Sen. Dave Umahi, to adopt wholesale construction of concrete roads across the country, describing such “not feasible in the light of Nigeria’s economic realities.”
Umahi’s colleague in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Ministry, Ezenwo Nyesom Wike, had recently ordered contractors handling the rehabilitation of roads in the Capital City and other civil engineering services, that he would not condone variations to their contract sums.
He accused contractors of colluding with officers of the FCT to use variations to jerk up the value of their contracts.
Sources close to the contractors stated that the position of Ministers Wike and Umahi on road contracts portrayed them as “economic saboteurs”.
According to the sources, it was morally and legally wrong for government to owe road contractors for several years, and then turn around to accuse them of economic sabotage.
According to the sources, it was better for the ministers to dialogue with the contractors in order to avert a situation where disagreements would sabotage President Ahmed Bola Tinubu’s promise to deliver good roads as part of his “Renewed Hope” agenda.
Noted a source, “Ministers Nyesom Wike and Dave Umahi were governors of Rivers and Ebonyi States respectively from 2007- 2023. They both know the prices of goods and services in 2015, and what they are now. They know how much they bought their official SUVs then and the current prices.
“Both men know how much diesel and petrol was sold for in 2015, and the current prices.
“They know how much sand, chippings, asphalt, and even the cost of moving goods in 2015 vis-a-vis now.
“Telling a man who secured a contract in 2015 that he must return to site and complete the job at 2015 price is not only unreasonable, but wicked.
“It is hard to believe that all the contractors are dubious.
“There’s no contractor that won’t love for Nigerians to praise his company for delivering on good roads.
“Unfortunately, road construction companies do not manufacture the equipment they use for work. Even if they do, they need to fuel their equipment, pay their workers, and buy things like asphalt and cement.
“All these things require plenty money and their prices keep changing.”
They added that the blame for the delays in executing federal government road contracts should not be heaped at the feet of contractors, but on poor funding by successive governments at the federal level.
They reminded that the immediate-past FCT Minister, Mohammed Bello, was particularly known for delaying several payments.
Another source described as “self-serving” Umahi’s proposal to do roads on paved concrete alone instead of asphalt, saying “several countries that move heavy loads on roads, including the United States and Brazil, still rely heavily on roads built with asphalt.
“The reason they call Wike ‘Mr. Projects’ is because, as Rivers Governor, he changed the procurement process to allow contractors be paid as much as 75 percent upfront.
“With such level of funding, it was impossible to have abandoned road projects in Rivers State.
“As governor, Dave Umahi’s approach was direct labour. Under his watch, Ebonyi State bought several construction equipment with which his administration was able to deliver good roads,” the sources stated, adding that “we shouldn’t forget that such road construction projects in Rivers and Ebonyi States took a heavy financial toll on other facets of government such as education.
“Comparing the performance of both former governors on roads to what obtains at the federal government level is like comparing apples and oranges.
“There was a time Umahi’s predecessor, Mr. Raji Fashola, disclosed that federal government was owing road contractors over N10 trillion. How are they supposed to perform under such a heavy debt burden?
“At least, since Fashola disclosed that federal government has been unable to meet it’s financial obligations to contractors, the least that Wike and Umahi should have done was to dialogued with the contractors on how to deliver good roads to Nigerians at reasonable costs, not to be threatening and blackmailing them,” they stressed.
