Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The House of Representatives said it might demand the revocation of the Abuja-Kaduna-Abuja road contract being handled by Julius Berger due to alleged delay in its completion.
The House Committee on Works, which expressed disappointment with the pace of work, stated that the House might be compelled to ask the government to reaward the project to other contractors to ensure it is completed within the lifespan of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.
The lawmakers said it was disappointing that after about 27 months, only less than 10 percent of the work had been done.
Chairman of the committee, Abubakar Kabir Abubakar, who spoke on the progress of work done during an oversight visit to project site, insisted that the contractor must deliver by May 2021 which is the terminal date for the completion of the road.
Abubakar said the complaints of lack of funding by the contractors was no excuse for the slow pace of work as government had already committed enormous resources to the project.
However, the North Central Zonal Director of Works in the Federal Ministry of Works, Kunle Yusuf told the Committee that 40 percent of the work on section one of the project (Abuja-Kaduna) covering about 62 kilometres had been completed out of about 165 kilometers.