The Minister of Works, Engr. David Umahi, has threatened to drag three contractors handling sections of the Abuja-Lokoja Road before the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).
The Minister made this known during an inspection visit from Abuja to the Obajana Junction section of the road, on Saturday.
Umahi was umbraced that one of the contractors delivered only three kilometres out of 400, two years after the contract was awarded.
“The three jobs we gave out in 2023, they may be facing the EFCC. We summoned them to the office.
“It’s when they come, we give them a timeline within the law, in line with the agreement and if they fail then we have no more choice than to hand over to the EFCC and ICPC to recover the funds.
“Their quality of work is good but the pace is terrible and that’s why we decided to come by ourselves to see this thing.
“But we’re going to be very hard on ourselves as Ministry of Works because I think we need to turn a new leaf in terms of pushing these contractors.
“We need it. As leaders in the office, we need to know that these three sections of the job has not gone anywhere since 2023 September.
“So, for two years, a contractor that has three kilometres of 400 meters. How can we justify that?
“Our staff in the field are also supposed to raise alarm and that is what we are going to be charging them to do now. If they don’t do so, we’re going to hold them responsible.”
