The Nigerian Government has called on contractors working on the Abuja-Lokoja Road projects to speed up performance to meet deadline.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Community Engagement (North Central Region), Dr Abiodun Essiet, made the call during an inspection of the projects.
She expressed displeasure at the slow pace of work noting that even though contractors are on site the pace is slow which would make them unable to meet the deadline.
The Minister of Works, David Umah had in November 2025, terminated contracts of four road projects in Kogi State due to underperformance of the contractors.
Currently, only 10.21% has been completed out of the 47 kilometres road reconstruction of the Kotonkarfe-Abaji, Abuja bound section being handled by Messrs Trucrete Solutions Nig. on the Abuja-Lokoja project.
Also, 99.73 per cent has been completed of the repair work on the Lokoja-Ganaja road being worked on by Gitto Costruzioni General Nig.Ltd. awarded in October 2023, for a period of six months.
The rehabilitation of Abuja-Lokoja section 4A by Sailthrough Constrution Ltd has only witnessed 22.40 per cent completion rate.
And the dualisation of the Lokoja-Benin road, section I, phase I and II: Obajana junction-Okene road being handled by CGC Nigeria Ltd. has witnessed only 38.04 per cent completion rate.
The Presidential Senior Special Assistant urged the controllers and contractors to increase efforts to finish the jobs noting that it is an essential road in the country that connects the Northern and Southern regions.
“The progress of work done is not encouraging at all. Just few months left to the deadline and they have only been able to achieve not much. I am not impressed by the level of progress being made.
“That is why we are pleading with the controller and the contractors to make sure that they intensify more efforts because this is a very busy road and a whole lot of people are expecting more from Mr President on this road,” she said.
Dr. Essiet pointed out the need for contractors to bring in more equipment and collaborate with other people in order to meet up with the deadline.
She further stressed the need for better communication with the public, urging contractors to promptly inform the government and the media about road diversions or temporary blockades to ensure smooth travel for road users.
The Presidential Senior Special Assistant assured contractors of President Bola Tinubu’s commitment to funding the project, explaining that payments would be made under a structured arrangement.
“Funding should not be an excuse for delay. Contractors were awarded these projects based on their demonstrated capacity.
“The President has assured that funds will be made available, but that does not stop contractors from intensifying work and meeting agreed timelines” she said.
She also commended the efforts of security and traffic agencies, such as the Police and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) for assisting with traffic diversions.
Addressing concerns previously raised by contractors over insecurity, she revealed that the issue had been resolved, with the military agreeing to provide round-the-clock security following approval from the relevant brigade command.
Some of the contractors handling the Abuja-Lokoja road project while responding attributed the slow pace of work to challenges like funding, insecurity, non-payment of certificates, traffic management, site access among others, as key constraints affecting concrete placementt.