Sabotage by officials opposed to the ongoing reconstruction of the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano carriage way has been responsible for the snail speed of the project with attendant loss of lives and property, a former spokesperson of the Nigerian Army, retired Brig-Gen Sani Usman Kukasheka, has said.
Contract for the reconstruction of the dual-carriage way was awarded in 2017 by the Federal Government with a completion period of 36 months, but work started in June 2018.
The project was awarded to construction giant Julius Berger at the cost of N155billion, out of which over N70billion has been released to the contractor.
The slow pace of work on the 375km road project has been a source of concern for commuters, as accidents continue to claim many lives and property daily.
Nigerians have criticized the government for not paying the needed attention to the project and ensuring that the contractor meets the deadline.
Federal lawmakers, on Friday, expressed dissatisfaction with the level of work, threatening to order the Federal Government to re-award the project to another firm.
Commenting on the project in a Facebook post on Sunday, Kukasheka blamed the delay on “selfish reasons and lack of will to supervise the project by those responsible”, adding that these had resulted in President Muhammadu Buhari being cast in bad light.
“I hate to say, but there is element of sabotage by yet to be identified people,” he said.
The former army spokesperson disclosed that when the project was being conceived earlier, certain government officials kicked against it, citing lack of funds. He said it took the efforts of President Buhari’s former Chief of Staff, Malam Abba Kyari, for the contract to see the light of day.
“More so, from the beginning, it was reliably gathered that some people in the government are not happy with the reconstruction work and vehemently opposed the award of the contract, citing lack of funds.
“It took the intervention of the then Chief of Staff to the President, late Alhaji Abba Kyari, to call their bluff, along with the intent of giving the work to five different contractors in piecemeal. He also argued that the job if given to various contractors, would affect its quality. He stood his ground and was backed by the President, thus, the work was awarded to Julius Berger PLC.
“Everyone knows that adequate budgetary provision was made for and arguably fully paid for, and the company can deliver, but the nagging question is why the work has not been moving at the required speed, thus inconveniencing commuters and risking the lives of motorists that ply the road daily?
“Therefore, the renewed concerned by the lawmakers is a step in the right direction, and they should not shy away from summoning Julius Berger PLC, the Ministers of Works and Housing and his Finance counterpart to explain why the project is going at snail speed. The public wants to know.”
The of finance ministry and that of works and housing are not immediately available for comment.
