The House of Representatives has ordered the Federal Ministry of Works to suspend the planned nationwide use of cement for road construction while an inquiry into the initiative is carried out.
This came after Khadija Bukar Ibrahim’s motion, “Need to Investigate the Adoption of Concrete Technology for Road Construction in Nigeria,” was approved.
Leading the debate, Hon. Ibrahim informed the House that several studies have revealed that “the use of rigid/cement concrete pavements in road construction has significant technical limitations and constraints.”
She stated that the move by the Minister of Works, Mr. David Umahi, to adopt cement concrete pavement “allegedly “without in-depth studies of the comparative advantages and disadvantages of asphalt may contradict technical specifications.”
According to her, “the Federal Government, through Ministry of Works, has several ongoing road contracts across the country, including those awarded under the Federal Government Road
Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme (RITCS) Executive Order 007 Phase II by NNPC is valued at over N1.4 trillion.
“The Federal Executive Council approved the awards of the contracts to which the Federal
Ministry of Works, Department of Highway (bridges and design), in preparation for the implementation of the project. A due process certificate of ‘No Objection’ was granted by the Bureau of Public Procurement to the Federal Ministry of Works for the construction and rehabilitation of all the Federal road projects.
“The contractors submitted a performance guarantee of 10% of the contract sum to secure successful project completion. The contract agreements have strict liquidated damages clauses, with supervision and monitoring by the Federal Ministry of Works to ensure that standard specifications are not compromised.”
The lawmaker noted that the adoption of cement technology by the government may lead to contract breaches and litigation.
The House therefore mandated its Committees on Works, Environment, Finance, and Judiciary to investigate the merits and demerits of using cement and asphalt for road construction. The committees are expected to report back to the House within three weeks for further legislative action.
