The federal government has issued a February 28, 2026 deadline to China Harbour Engineering Company, the contractor handling the construction of the Mararaba-Keffi Road, for completion and handover of the project.
This directive was handed down by the Minister of Works, Engineer Dave Umahi, on Friday following the inspection of the ongoing expansion of the 43- kilometer road.
He expressed disappointment that, in spite of several inspection visits, significant improvement had not been recorded warning that indiscipline and disobedience of directives would no longer be condoned.
“I am giving you the end of February to hand over this job. You must come to my office on Wednesday with your timetable and a commitment to complete the project by then,” the minister said.
The federal government also redeployed the Controller of Works, Yakubu Usman, who was hitherto in charge of the Mararaba–Keffi Expressway, for allegedly issuing certificates for uncompleted jobs thereby misleading government into paying contractors for work not done, adding that this was also the case in earlier palliative jobs supervised by the same officer.
Announcing the redeployment, the Minister directed the permanent secretary of the ministry to recall the Controller back to the office and to post a new one to take his place at the site.
Stating that “2026 is a year of action” Umahi said he was using that to set the tone of what to expect in the new year and to send a message to all concerned to do their jobs as expected.
He stressed that supervising officers have the authority to withhold certificates and escalate cases of non-compliance by contractors, adding that the sanctions can only be reversed by President Bola Tinubu.
While expressing dissatisfaction with the slow pace of work, the Minister alleged that the delays were due to lapses of both the contractor and the Ministry’s officials.
Umahi also inspected the Keffi flyover, where he stressed that both contractors and ministry officials must carry out their responsibilities diligently in the interest of Nigerians.
He also directed the immediate removal of hand-moulded kerbs along the road and instructed that solar-powered streetlights be installed along the entire corridor.