Uche Diala reacts to Tinubu’s “flag-off” of Abuja-Kaduna road project
FLAG OFF of an already existing and ongoing project whose contract was terminated and reawarded?
FLAG OFF
Of an already existing and ongoing project whose contract was terminated and reawarded?
■ Some Facts
▪︎ The contract for the rehabilitation of the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano (A-K-Z-K) dual carriageway, was awarded by the Muhammadu Buhari administration to Julius Berger Nigeria (JBN) on 20th December 2017 at an initial sum of N155.75bn and flagged off by the former Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, on 18th June 2018.
▪︎ The A-K-Z-K dual carriageway project is divided into three sections, viz; Abuja-Kaduna (section I), Kaduna-Zaria (section II) and Zaria-Kano (section III).
▪︎ While the Kaduna-Zaria (section II) was completed and handed over to the federal government towards the end of the last administration, the Zaria-Kano (section III) was near completion, leaving the Abuja-Kaduna (section I).
▪︎ The current Minister of Works, on 4th November 2024, revoked the contract with JBN after 14 months of failed negotiation and re-awarded the completion of the remaining part of Zaria-Kano (section III) plus Abuja-Kaduna (section I) to a new firm, Infiouest Construction Company, which has been “tested and proven to be competent to do the job”, according to the Minister.
▪︎ The Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano road project is 700 kilometres in total.
▪︎ The remaining or uncompleted section of the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano road project is 282 kilometres.
▪︎ This means that 418 kilometres of the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano dual carriageway was completed and handed over under the last administration of Muhammadu Buhari, remaining 282 kilometres.
▪︎ The distance of the re-awarded contract is broken down into: Section I and III – 118 kilometres and section II – 164 kilometres (82km × 2) = 282 kilometres.
▪︎ The re-awarded contract sum is N777B broken down to N252 billion (section I and II – 118 kilometres) and N525 billion (section I – 164 kilometres).
▪︎The project is expected to be completed in 14 months.
▪︎ The original contract with Julius Berger was terminated after 14 months of failed negotiation between it and the current administration.
#Postscript. I accept, albeit grudgingly, that politics plays into virtually everything, but wouldn’t it be nice to just do infrastructure for the sake of infrastructure other than infrastructure for politics. What a drastic change in governance style in just 2 years.
#GodBlessNigeria
©️ Uche Diala
