Umahi claims he needs N217 billion to fix 260 roads and 8 bridges and wants to divert the Benin-Abuja highway

According to David Umahi, Minister of Works, the ministry requires N217 billion to rebuild 260 road projects and 8 bridges around the nation.

Inaugurating four road project committees on Thursday in Abuja, the minister made this disclosure.

He said that in addition to keeping the road maintained, the committees were established to make sure that contractors carried out the agreements made.

The task force committees are responsible for overseeing the dualization of Section III: Port Harcourt (ElemeJunction) Oone Port Junction road in Rivers and the rehabilitation of Section I, II, and III of the Benin-Warri Dual Carriageway.

“This ministry’s directors met, and we decided to form a taskforce that will reside in these places for effective oversight.

The item two of the contract we signed, which is covered by Section 51 of the General Conditions of Contract, allows us the permission and legal right to redefine the projects. They will remodel the roadways to fit the site scenarios.

In order to spare our staff from hardship, we are exploiting the fact that we can rescope the projects and improve their quality. The road will be rebuilt using one foot of concrete. The bills to redefine it are already in the works, the minister said.

The highways between Eleme and Zonne Port as well as the routes between Benin and Warri, according to Umahi, are receiving substantial attention from the Federal Government.

“Let me kindly report that the ministry contacted Mr. President on 260 projects around the federation that require extremely immediate and prompt attention.

“The projects, whose total cost is N217 billion, are a result of National Assembly resolutions, public clamour, and compilations from controllers of our states.

“We have sent it to Mr. President, and the National Assembly is aware of that, and he has directed that we submit at FEC for discussions,” he stated.

He continued by saying that President Tinubu is devoted to improving the nation’s road infrastructure and that roads are crucial to the transformation of the country’s commerce, education, security, and electricity.

Regarding the president’s approval of funding, the former governor of Ebonyi stated that money had been set aside for the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos’s reconstruction.

“Last week, we had a lot of failures on our East West Road between Warri and Cross Rivers,” the minister said, lamenting the breakdowns of several areas on the East West Road.

“We had 12 points that completely collapsed, and the entire section could collapse if there is another flood.” We need to repair all of those roads because three bridges completely collapsed.

The 12 points and three bridges that collapsed on our east-west routes between Warri and Cross Rivers have been approved by the president, who has also given funds for prompt treatment.

“Also, the president has allocated funds for the restoration of the Shendam-Lafia Bridge and the Enugu Bridge, both of which collapsed a week ago.

In order to ease our people’s anxieties, the projects are being worked on. We need to act quickly to start on all of those roads because these are life-threatening situations, he said.

The minister recalled that his group travelled for 14 hours from Abuja to Benin, adding that “that wasn’t pleasant.” Therefore, he demanded that the route leave Benin City.

We need to redirect the roadway, and that can be done even if it is only one lane, I told the governor of Edo.

“The situation is extremely bad, and we also found four sections between Benin and Warri. We saw five km of continuously parked trucks and found it difficult to move through.

The Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) would be included in the monitoring to ensure transparency and accurate reporting of the projects as part of the new administration policy, he added, adding that the reconstruction had an 18-month timeline.

“Let me also inform our contractors that under my direction, no new project will be completed using asphalt. All of our projects are carried out on concrete. Please be aware that this is our stance.

“Any contractor who cannot handle it, it is not required. On continuing projects, we anticipate that the contractors will finish them without asking for an increase if they have completed 80% of the work.

“We cannot add more projects since there is a financing shortage of N6 trillion for all active projects. We won’t change the price of asphalt any longer, he continued.

No contractor is required to complete their projects, according to Umahi, who added that they have the ability to end such contracts if they become inconvenient.

He claimed that the people of Nigeria deserved roads that would last and be reliable for daily use.