The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has terminated the contract for the construction of the Ekim-Odukpani section of the Calabar-Itu Highway due to poor performance by the contractor.
Umahi made the announcement during an inspection tour of the highway on Saturday, stating that the contract, handled by Raycon Construction Company, failed to meet the terms and conditions agreed upon.
He said the ministry would issue a stop-work order to Raycon and conduct a joint assessment of the work completed.
“This job was awarded as an intervention contract; it was taken over from Julius Berger because of the unreasonable price they offered.
“We are disappointed at the poor performance of the contractor. The company has shown an obvious lack of capacity to perform.
“This job is beyond their capability. The termination is necessary to enable the ministry to bring in a new contractor,” Umahi said.
The minister added that the contract would be awarded to a firm capable of completing the project to standard.
The Calabar-Itu Highway (part of the larger Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway) has faced significant issues with slow progress, leading to threats of contract termination by the Minister, Dave Umahi, against non-performing contractors like SEMATECH and RCC, despite initial contract awards and government commitments.
PUNCH Online in several reports has highlighted lawmakers’ concerns, ministerial warnings about slow pace and non-mobilization, and government efforts to speed up work, with some sections seeing minimal progress despite huge sums collected, leading to potential project delays and contract revokes for other road projects too.
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