The Federal Government has hinted at the termination of the Reynolds Construction Company Osun-Ogbomosho road contract over an 18-year delay in the completion of the project.
The Minister of Works, David Umahi, disclosed this on Tuesday during a joint inspection of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, Lagos-Ota Expressway and Lagos-Sagamu road.
He said, “The Osun-Ogbomoso road repair is being done by RCC. The contract has taken too long, equating 18 years and the work is not still completed, so we can terminate the contract with RCC by effluxion of time.”
Speaking on the Lagos-Ibadan Sagamu road, Umahi asserted that the contractors contracted for phase 2 of the road project risked termination for non-completion.
He said, “Two contractors were handed the Lagos-Ibadan Sagamu road, which has phases 1 & 2, Julius Berger has completed their part, but RCC is yet to complete phase 2.
“The contractor (RCC) handling the Sagamu to Ibadan stretch of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway risks termination of its appointment if it fails to return to the site to complete the remaining three kilometers portion of the project, without further delay.”
Umahi explained that RCC had already been given a seven-day deadline, and a warning letter would follow if the contractor did not comply with the fresh terms of the contract.
Speaking On the Lagos-Abeokuta federal highway which has been in bad shape for over eight years, the minister stated that the Governor of Ogun State had excised out the section of Ogun and had awarded it, adding that work was ongoing in line with the directive of President Bola Tinubu.
The directive stated, “Any state governor that wants to do a road should go ahead.”
Umahi continued, “Now we have 18km that is left and this 18km is being processed for conception but I am happy that I came here by myself because one of the carriageways is very good but the traffic in this place is quite enormous.
“So due to public outcry, we have procured about 7km for palliative work. Though we do not have all the money to do the remaining 11km, we have applied to the Minister of Finance to give us some emergency funds to do the entire 18km for the people to use while we await the due process of construction.”
The minister recommended the use of concrete on the Lagos-Ota road.
Meanwhile, Umahi ordered an immediate evacuation of buried refuse on the runway of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway to give the ongoing road construction an accelerated approach.