The Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, has issued a 72-hour ultimatum to contractors handling the Abuja–Lokoja road, ordering immediate mobilisation to site and full utilisation of funds already released by the Federal Government.
Umahi gave the ultimatum during an inspection of the Abuja–Lokoja road project on Tuesday, expressing concern over the poor state of the highway and delays in rehabilitation work.
The minister warned that contractors handling the Abuja–Lokoja road who fail to mobilise within 72 hours risk sanctions, including possible involvement of security and anti-corruption agencies.
“We cannot be pampering contractors. If you are holding the money of the federal government, you have to bring it out and do the job or we start going to the Police and the EFCC. I am giving you 72 hours to effectively deploy on this road,” Umahi said.
He stressed that funds had already been released for sections of the Abuja–Lokoja road, adding that additional approvals had been secured to accelerate work on the critical highway corridor.
According to Umahi, the Abuja–Lokoja road has suffered severe deterioration, particularly the Abuja-bound carriageway, which he said is over 90 percent damaged in some sections.
“If urgent action is not taken on the Abuja–Lokoja road within the next few months, the situation will become much worse,” he warned.
The minister said the Federal Government, under President Bola Tinubu, is committed to fixing the Abuja–Lokoja road, but insisted that contractors must also deliver their responsibilities.
He also criticised some supervising engineers on the Abuja–Lokoja road project, accusing them of poor monitoring, weak oversight, and failure to properly evaluate contractors on site.
Umahi further warned that ministry officials supervising the Abuja–Lokoja road and other federal projects would be removed if they failed to carry out effective inspections and reporting duties.
“I am going to remove ministry staffers who are not doing well. You are supervising projects, yet you cannot answer any question on any of the projects,” he said.
He added that poor supervision of the Abuja–Lokoja road project often leads to public criticism being directed at the Minister of Works and the President, instead of contractors and field officers responsible for execution.
Also speaking, Chairman of the House Committee on Works, Akin Alabi, said successful delivery of the Abuja–Lokoja road depends on strict accountability from contractors, engineers, and supervising agencies.
He noted that the President and the Minister cannot be present on every Abuja–Lokoja road construction site, stressing the need for accurate reporting from field officers.
“What we have seen here suggests that reports reaching the minister do not fully reflect realities on the ground,” Alabi said.
Chairman of the Senate Committee on Works, Senator Onyekachi Nwaebonyi, also urged strict supervision of contractors handling the Abuja–Lokoja road and called for timely payment processes to avoid project delays.
“Nigerians want to see results and are no longer interested in excuses,” he said.