The Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, claimed on Tuesday that he traveled from Abuja to Benin via Lokoja road and wept over the miseries that Nigerians had been experiencing on federal roads.
This comes on the heels of his declaration that no existing federal road can last more than seven years.
He stated that the decision was based on facts from his recent road inspection visit across the country.
Some roads, according to Umahi, are littered with potholes and have degraded into “boreholes.”
Umahi who expressed his dissatisfaction on the poor jobs done by the contractors over the years, expressed his dismay at how contractors cheat Nigerians with the materials they use to construct roads in the country.
He spoke in Abuja while addressing contractors from the six geo-political zones at the ministry headquarters on Tuesday.
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.”
“I spent 14 hours on the road having started my journey at 10 am and got to Benin City at 2 pm the next day and I was very happy I experienced the pains.
“President Tinubu said I must travel through all the projects so that I could brief him on my experience and tell him the truth.
“Unless Mr. President does something about our procurement, his lofty intention to help this country may not be achieved. documents will be sent to the Bureau of Public Procurement for a no-objection certificate and it will stay for six months.
“How will the contractors do the additional job you directed them to do without backup authorisation.”
According to the minister, contractors have a history of inflating the cost of their projects in order to defraud the country through contract variation and the use of asphalt materials, which are linked to the international price of crude oil.
The former Ebonyi governor also questioned contractors’ unauthorised additional work and advised them to seek necessary authorization. He emphasized the necessity of proper documentation and clearance procedures, emphasizing that contracts would not be signed unless the requisite design drawings and original road designs were provided.
This is not the first time an appointed Minister’s of works in Nigeria will cry. Diezani Alison-Madueke also cried during her tenure and she didn’t turn anything around except siphoning funds and embezzlement. What Nigerian needs, is a minister that will carry out his duties effectively and change the narratives on Nigeria’s infrastructure.