A senior lecturer at the Moses Orshio Adasu University, Makurdi (MOAUM), Dr. Michael Atovigba, has called for the immediate arrest of contractors handling the Makurdi–Naka–Adoka and Makurdi–Yandev–Ugbema roads in Benue State over alleged failure to deliver the projects despite the passage of several years.
Dr. Atovigba, of the Department of Science and Mathematics Education, raised the alarm in an interview with The New Times (TNT) on Wednesday, October 14, accusing the contractors of leaving the critical federal roads uncompleted for about a decade while allegedly collecting contract payments.
“Two contractors of the Federal Government (of Nigeria) should be arrested immediately: The one awarded the contract for the construction of Makurdi–Naka–Adoka Road and the one awarded Yandev–Ugbema Road,” he said.
“For ten years after, those federal roads in Benue State have remained disused, not constructed, but various contract sums collected.”
Findings by TNT indicate that the deplorable condition of the roads has continued to expose motorists to road crashes, prolonged travel time and losses of goods and lives, while hampering movement and economic activities across affected communities.
It is understood that the projects were awarded by the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari under SUKUK bond.
The 118-kilometre Makurdi–Naka–Adoka–Ankpa road project, which connects Benue and Kogi states, was awarded to Gilmor Construction Limited at a contract sum of N27.38 billion for the rehabilitation of the Makurdi–Naka–Adoka Road, Phase I.
Similarly, the 124.5-kilometre Makurdi–Yandev (Gboko)–Ugbema–Katsina-Ala road project was awarded on March 22, 2018, and divided into two phases.
Phase I, covering the 82-kilometre Makurdi–Yandev (Gboko) stretch, was awarded for N18.67 billion, while Phase II, covering the 42.5-kilometre Yandev–Ugbema–Katsina-Ala stretch, attracted a contract sum ofDN11.89 billion.
Dr. Atovigba’s demand raises fresh questions about accountability in the execution of federal road projects in Benue State, particularly the whereabouts of public funds committed to infrastructure that remains vital to the safety, livelihoods and economic development of the people.
The lecturer’s allegations of payments without corresponding delivery could not be independently verified from the information available for this report.
