No current federal road can live longer than seven years, according to the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi.
He noted that certain roads are covered in potholes and have degraded into “boreholes” and claimed that the decision was based on information gathered during his recent nationwide road inspection tour.
In a speech to contractors from the six geopolitical zones on Tuesday at the ministry headquarters in Abuja, the minister expressed his displeasure with the subpar work performed by the contractors over the years.
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Expressing his dismay at how contractors cheat Nigerians with the materials they use to construct roads in the country, the minister said the contractors have been in the habit of increasing the cost of their projects to swindle the country through contract variation and the use of asphalt materials, which are subject to the international price of crude oil.
The former Ebonyi governor also questioned the unauthorised additional work undertaken by contractors and urged them to obtain proper authorisation.
Umahi emphasised the importance of thorough documentation and clearance procedures, making it clear that contracts would not be signed without the necessary design plans and original road blueprints.
He said, “There is no project being constructed right now in Nigeria that is going to last for seven years. The question is are we going to be maintaining or reconstructing our roads every 10 years? That is what we have been doing.
“I travelled from Abuja to Benin City through Lokoja, all the stretches of the road are on contract, and ongoing, this is through the policy of the last administration but how much of the roads are motorable? I travelled through the roads myself and I shed tears for the kind of pains our people are going through.”
