The Federal Government has approved funds for the completion of the rehabilitation of the 82-km Section II of Abuja – Kaduna – Zaria – Kano Dual Carriageway in FCT, Kaduna, and Kano States and that of Bodo – Bonny road with bridges across the Opobo Channel, Route 430 in Rivers State.
The Minister of Works, Sen. (Engr.) Nweze David Umahi disclosed this during a meeting with Julius Berger (Nig.) Plc, represented by the Executive Director, Projects, Banjamin Bott and Head of Contract Management, Omonigho Brown in Abuja on 3rd October 2024.
During the meeting, Umahi said the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved revisions to the contracts for both projects on Sept 23, 2024 and a total sum for Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria -Kano dual carriageway is now set at N740.8bn, while the Bodo-Bonny road project is pegged at N80.1bn.
He tasked the contractors handling Federal Government’s projects on need for corporate nationalism in price negotiation in the face of the daunting economic challenges facing Nigeria and urged the contractor to mobilize in the four sections of Abuja – Zaria – Kaduna – Kano project to finish the job within 14 months.
According to him, “Then we have section II, which is 82 kilometers by two, which is the section that JBN Plc is working on. And so, if you check what FEC approved on 23rd of September.
“The total contract sum within the scope of Berger would be N740 billion, which means that if you remove N391 billion paid already, you now have about N340 billion remaining, which is the scope of their work for the 164 kilometers”, he added.
As contained in a statement released by the Minister’s aide, Umahi noted that the prices given on the said projects were the best in view of the economic reality of the time. “So we are appealing to you not to try to increase the contract sum, because it will not be possible.
He added, “And we have written to the President to approve that if JBN Plc does not accept the N740 billion, we will terminate the contract. Weve terminated some of their jobs because we’ve been negotiating sometimes 12 months, 13 months. There must be an end to negotiation.”
The Minister further said, “We’re ready to pay you (JBN Plc) even fresh mobilisation, just to underscore the interest of the President on this project. So we’re appealing and begging you that by Monday, you should be able to sign the addendum to the contract.”
Umahi harped on the need for the contractor to mobilize in multiple locations of the two projects so as to complete them on a record time. On the Bodo-Bonny project, he said “We don’t think we have any issue.
“We’ve agreed on the N280 billion, which is the new contract sum that is fixed, and then for a 12- month completion period; that is an additional 12 months. So we want you to mobilize in a minimum of three locations. So that within these 12 months, we’ll be able to finish the job.”
The Minister went further to state, “In the letter to NLNG, we have to also propose 30% advance payment, so that they will be able to have enough funds to mitigate inflation and any form of variation.”
While ending the meeting with a formal handover of the Letters of Award in respect of the reviewed approved projects contract sums to Julius Berger (Plc), which terms contain inter alia: “that the contract is fixed, firm, non-transferable and duly terminated by effluxion of time, unless otherwise formally reviewed by the Ministry.
