The Edo State Assets Verification Committee has announced its intention to recommend the revocation of a road contract awarded to Nosba Nigeria Limited due to alleged abandonment of the project.
The contract, valued at N8bn, was for the construction of a 5.52-kilometre road along Upper Ekenwa Road.
The state government had already paid N2bn as mobilisation fees, but the project has reportedly made no progress.
The Chairman of the Physical Assets and Infrastructure Subcommittee, Patrick Obahiagbon, expressed concern about the contractor’s non-performance during an inspection of road projects in the area.
Accompanied by committee members, Kassim Afegbua, Abass Braimah, Kenny Okojie, and Frederick Unopah, Obahiagbon pointed out that no work had been completed, calling the progress “zero percent.”
“The work done so far by the contractor is zero percent. We will recommend to the main committee that the contract be revoked,” he said.
The committee also expressed dissatisfaction with the slow pace of work by Stefanutti Stocks Wapel Limited, the contractor handling the construction of approximately 9.9 kilometres of roads, including the Owina-Evbuotubu-Children Medical and Erunmwunse-Okpe roads.
Obahiagbon noted that despite a N5bn mobilisation payment out of the N19bn contract, the contractor had only completed 12 per cent of the work, far below the expected 25 per cent.
“This is a major contract for about N19bn, spanning Oredo and Egor Local Government Areas. Five billion naira has been paid as mobilisation, which should cover 25 per cent of the work. However, the contractor has only completed 12 percent,” Obahiagbon stated.
He stressed that the contractor must complete the work in line with the mobilisation payment before requesting further funds from the state government.
The committee also announced plans to measure the project scope to ensure that the contracted 9.9 kilometres of roads was accurately represented.
“This is our first visit, and we will conduct further measurements to confirm that the 9.9 kilometres quoted in the contract is accurate. We want to ensure that the people of Edo State are not shortchanged,” Obahiagbon explained.
The committee also inspected the reconstruction of the Benin-Abraka Road, Phases 1a and 1b, awarded to Raycon Nigeria Limited.
The committee expressed dissatisfaction with the presence of potholes on the road despite the project not being completed.
They instructed the contractor to repair the potholes before the Christmas break.