The Federal Government has declared that foreign construction firms will no longer be considered for road projects valued below N20bn, insisting that such contracts must be handled by indigenous companies.
The Minister of Works, David Umahi, made this known on Tuesday evening during an inspection of the ongoing dualisation of the East-West Road (Section IIIA) from Eleme Junction to Onne Port Junction in Rivers State. The project is being executed by Reynolds Construction Company (Nigeria) Limited.
According to him, the decision is in line with the Federal Government’s Nigeria First policy aimed at strengthening indigenous capacity in the construction sector.
He said: “This is part of the Nigeria First policy of the Federal Government. Henceforth, no expatriate firm will be awarded any project valued below N20bn. Such projects must go to indigenous companies, while expatriates focus on higher-value projects requiring more technical capacity.”
Umahi, who commended the quality of work on the project, however, expressed dissatisfaction with its pace, stressing that the December 15 completion deadline remains sacrosanct.
“The quality of the work is excellent, but the pace of work is totally unacceptable. Let me make it very clear to the contractor that this project will neither be reviewed nor varied in price or claims. I’m sure we have issued over 10 warning letters to them. If they fail to comply with the completion deadline of December 15, we will not extend it,” he stated.
He added that the ministry had already put measures in place to enforce compliance, warning that erring contractors would have the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to contend with.
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“The comptroller has negative certificates to issue, and I will recover the money from any of their other projects. All those letters are on record, and when the time comes, they will be invoked. Any contractor who refuses to abide by regulations will have the EFCC and ICPC to contend with,” he said.
The minister also explained that the Federal Ministry of Works had adopted a funding prioritisation framework to sustain road projects initially financed by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited under the Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme.
He stressed that President Bola Tinubu had directed that none of such projects should be abandoned, adding that priority would be given to critical economic corridors.
Umahi further frowned at the indiscriminate parking of heavy-duty vehicles on highways, lamenting that it was damaging the pavements of completed sections of the road. He said letters would be sent to state governors and the Inspector-General of Police to enforce punitive measures against defaulters.
Earlier, the Federal Controller of Works in Rivers State, Mrs Enwereama Tarilade, disclosed that RCC had completed 15km of the right carriageway and commenced work on the left carriageway, with one kilometre already laid in Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement.
