The Minister of Works, Sen. David Umahi on Thursday gave account of his stewardship over the last one year reeling out detailed facts and figures backed up with pictures in a session with media that lasted over 2 hours.
The session which held at the Ministry’s headquarters in Abuja also featured questions and answers to shed further light and clear any confusion.
The minister’s presentation consisted of highlights of the status of the road and bridge projects being executed by the Federal Ministry of Works at the commencement of this administration in May, 2023 and a report on the achievements the ministry has made up to date, pursuant to the Renewed Hope Mandate of President Tinubu and how it is impacting on the socio-economic development of Nigeria.
Among other revelations, he stated that N13 trillion is needed to complete all the inherited projects by the Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration which he envisaged will even be more than N16 trillion when all projects are reviewed in line with the current market realities.
“The present administration inherited a total of 18,932.50km of ongoing projects with a total of 2,064 number of contracts.
“The total value of all the ongoing projects as at May, 2023 was N14,424,982,425,616.40. Amount certified was N4,734,849,328,306.77, amount paid was N3,122,628,914,427.12 and amount owed contractors for certified works was N1,612,220,413,879.65.
“The funding gap to complete all the inherited projects is about N13 trillion as at May, 2023 and will be more than N16 trillion when all projects are reviewed in line with current market realities.”
“Due to the removal of fuel subsidy and the floating of the naira, Umahi noted that, though it is a very sound economic decision of this administration, and considering the fact that some of the projects have lingered between five to 18 years, consequently, the projects are being reviewed to match with current market realities.
“This position excludes all the new projects under the Renewed Hope Agenda and the Four Legacy projects”.
To avoid the recurring and worrisome situation of abandoned projects he stated that new projects will not be introduced in the year 2025.
He said, “We will not propose new projects for the 2025 fiscal year unless otherwise dictated by Mr President, adding, “Right now, we have over 4,000 ongoing projects and a funding gap of 16 trillion naira”.
“I’m going to tell the Ministry of Finance to provide funds for us to complete ongoing projects.
He sympathised with the governments and people of Jigawa and Bauchi states over the road collapses that occurred in their domains occasioned by floods while assuring that the Federal Government is already perfecting plans to restore the roads
On the Lagos- Càlabar Expressway he expressed the Federal Government’s determinatíon to complete the project, despite litigations having fulfilled all legal, regulatory, impact assessment requirements.
“We are paying compensation. We are following the corridor right of way. We are following the corridor that is legally allowed for the federal government. And so, we don’t know what they are taking to court” Umahi stated.
He also explained that all proper procurement procedures had been followed.
“My permanent secretary is a procurement expert, and I have a very good department of public procurement and good directors. But the project was approved by the Federal Executive Council under restrictive procurement,” he explained.
Speaking on the cost and scale of the project, the Minister noted that comparisons to other international projects were unfounded.
“I’ve had to run even the cost of the project at 4 billion per kilometre. And yet, people still come to say, oh, this number of lanes in Egypt is 1.8 billion. And it is 300 kilometres,” he said, criticising those questioning the project without sufficient knowledge.
The Minister also reassured stakeholders that all environmental and social impact assessments had been completed and that the project was included in the 2023 supplementary appropriation.