The federal government has announced that henceforth, road projects costing less than N20 billion will be handled by local contractors in furtherance of its new ‘Nigeria First’ policy.

Also, as part of plans towards sustainability in project funding and execution, the Ministry of Works has said that inherited projects hitherto funded by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC) under the Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme, will be prioritized.

Minister of Works, David Umahi, made this disclosure during his inspection visit to the ongoing dualization of the East-West Road (Section IIIA) from Eleme Junction, Port Harcourt to Onne Junction in Rivers State handled by Messrs RCC Nig. Ltd.

Speaking during his visit, the minister stated that the Federal Ministry of Works had compiled all the NNPC inherited Tax Credit projects for strategic priority funding, noting that the most critical projects within the national economic corridor would receive precedence in the hierarchy of prioritization.

“We are inspecting projects of the federal government in Rivers State, and this particular one is the dualization of Eleme Junction to Onne Port Junction by RCC. Recall that one carriageway was completed and commissioned, even though there are a few things we ordered afresh like the retaining wall and hanging drainage.

“For the second carriageway with some bridges and flyovers, work has started on it. Let me say that this is part of the NNPC Tax Credit that has been stopped in terms of funding by NNPC. But we have compiled all the NNPC inherited Tax Credit projects, and we presented as Ministry of Works to Mr. President.

And Mr. President has graciously directed that none of such works should stop now. However, as the ministry, we are going to prioritize the projects and look at the most critical of these projects within the national economic corridor like this one. And we are going to put it forward for immediate funding because the President directed that none of such projects should stop now,” a statement by the minister’s spokesman, Uchenna Orji, said.

Umahi admonished contractors handling road projects under the Federal Ministry of Works to ensure speed, quality and compliance with specification and sustainability in project delivery.

He cautioned that the attention of the anti-graft agencies would be called to any case of violation of the regulations or terms and conditions set out under the contract of every project handled by the Federal Ministry of Works.

He stated: “I have also noticed in some of the projects in Rivers State, and same with the six geo-political zones, that contractors go ahead to put stone base and put binder course of asphalt, sometimes over 20 kilometres and leave the binder unprotected without putting on a wearing course.

“The binder is like a reinforcement to the road architecture. The wearing is the sealant that doesn’t allow water to go beyond the surface. And so when you now put stone base, which has dust as designed, and you put binder, which is like a reinforcement, and you see that the composition of the binder asphalt has bigger stones, and it has holes, so the water penetrates.

“The moment it gets to the stone base, which has some dust, the road fails. It may technically look safe, but with time, it will definitely fail. And we’ve seen it in a number of roads we inspected. And what I’ve directed the controller to do, and it’s going to be nationwide, is that when you are putting a binder and you have left it for more than two months, we are going to redo the certificate and remove all the binder and remove the stone base.”

He directed that henceforth any project below the contract sum of N20 billion would not be given to expatriate firms, as part of measures to promote the Nigeria First policy of the Federal Government of Nigeria.

The minister frowned on the slow pace of work which the contractors said was affected by the rainy season. He restated that December 15, 2025 remains the agreed deadline for the project’s completion with no extension or Variation of Price (VoP) allowed.

“On this project of Eleme Junction, the quality of the work is excellent. The pace of the work is totally not acceptable. And let me make it very, very clear to the contractor that this project can never be reviewed by a kobo. Neither can there be any variation of price or any other claims,” he noted.

He expressed dismay over the destructive habit of packing heavy duty vehicles on the road by drivers and warned that forthwith punitive measures would be taken against such perpetrators.

“Our roads are not designed to carry these heavy trailers that are parking on the road. And the press should help us with that. When I was coming yesterday all the way from Aba to here, I saw that the trailers are taking over the entire roads, putting their waste, destroying the pavements, and so on and so forth.

“So I’m going to write to our dear governors to see what they could help us to do about it, and will also complain to the Inspector General of Police. Let us see what we can do about it. Mr. President is doing everything possible to right the wrongs in terms of road construction. We are doing quality roads now that are going to last from 50 to 100 years. But it’s being destroyed by ourselves,” he said.

Earlier, the Federal Controller of Works in River State, Enwereama Tarilade, said the contractor handling Eleme – Onne road had completed the 15km Eket bound on the right carriageway and had moved to the left carriageway which is Port Harcourt bound. (AriseNews TV)