The Federal Government has terminated the ₦740 billion contract for the repair of the Abuja-Kaduna dual highway with Julius Berger Nig Plc due to non-performance.
Umahi expressed irritation with the delay in mobilising to the site, despite the fact that the Federal Executive Council had approved the required cash.
This comes after the Minister of Works, David Umahi, imposed a seven-day deadline to the business to accept FG’s offer of N740.79 billion for the completion of the 82-kilometer segment II of the road.
According to Mohammed Ahmed, Director of Press and Public Relations at the Federal Ministry of Works, the contract was terminated when the company’s completion notice expired on Monday.
He said that the Federal Government is suffering because of this delay, and that road users are suffering as a result.
While the Kaduna-Zaria segment has been completed and the Zaria-Kano part is nearly finished, the Abuja-Kaduna stretch has only made 27 percent progress in the last six years.
At an event two weeks ago, Umahi also accused the company of politicizing the highway project to tarnish the image of the current administration.
The statement read in part, “Based on non-compliance with reviewed cost, scope and terms, stoppage of work and refusal to remobilise to site, as directed, the Federal Ministry of Works has issued a 14-day Notice of Termination to Messrs Julius Berger (Nig.) Plc for the Rehabilitation of Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Dual Carriageway in FCT, Kaduna and Kano States, Contract No.6350, Section I (Abuja-Kaduna), today, 4th November, 2024.
“It is a sad commentary on the Company that rather than accepting the offer, they tinkered with the Bills of Quantities, as well as that of Engineering Measurements and Evaluation via a letter to the Ministry dated 29th October 2024.
The decision was made at a Ministry management meeting after several months of back and forth without any significant progress. The Ministry has been in continuous negotiations with the company for the past 13 months to reach a mutually agreeable position on the aforementioned alignment, but to no avail.
“The company was summoned for a meeting with the Management of the Ministry, today, 4th November 2024 but refused to show up, hence the termination of the contract based on effluxion of time and non-performance.”
