FG Orders Julius Berger to Halt Abuja-Kano Road Project

The Federal Ministry of Works has ordered Julius Berger, the contractor responsible for the Section One rehabilitation of the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Dual Carriageway, to vacate the project site.

This decision came after the company was issued a 14-day final termination notice on Monday, with no further negotiations allowed.

The ministry explained that the termination was due to Julius Berger’s failure to comply with the revised cost, scope, and terms of the project, as well as the stoppage of work and refusal to remobilize to the site as instructed.

It was also noted that negotiations had been ongoing for several months without any significant progress.

A statement from the Director of Press and Public Relations, Mohammed Ahmed, released on Monday in Abuja, confirmed the decision, highlighting that it was made during a management meeting at the ministry’s headquarters.

It was noted that the Ministry of Works had been in continuous discussions with Julius Berger for the past 13 months, attempting to reach a resolution on the alignment of the project, but these talks had not yielded any positive outcome.

This latest development follows a prior warning from the minister to revoke the contract, which had been awarded to the company in 2018 under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

While the Kaduna-Zaria section of the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Dual Carriageway has been completed and the Zaria-Kano section is nearly finished, the Abuja-Kaduna section has only made 27 percent progress over the past six years.

At an event two weeks ago, Minister of Works and Housing, David Umahi, accused Julius Berger of “playing politics” with the highway project in an attempt to make the current administration appear ineffective.

Despite these efforts, an agreement was not reached between both parties, with the construction company not attending the scheduled meeting on Monday.

The statement read in part, “Based on non-compliance with the reviewed cost, scope, and terms, stoppage of work and refusal to remobilise to the site, as directed, the Federal Ministry of Works has issued a 14-day Notice of Termination to Messrs Julius Berger Plc for the Rehabilitation of Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Dual Carriageway in FCT, Kaduna and Kano States, Contract No.6350, Section I (Abuja-Kaduna),  today, November 4, 2024.

“Nigerians may wish to know that the Contract for the Rehabilitation of the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Dual Carriageway, which was divided into three Sections was awarded to the company on December 20, 2017, and flagged off by the former Minister of Power, Works, and Housing, Babatunde Fashola at an initial sum of N155.75bn on June 18, 2018. Sections II (Kaduna – Zaria) and III (Zaria – Kano) were partially completed and handed over during the twilight of the administration of former President  Muhammadu Buhari.

“Since then it has been one variation and augmentation or the other and finally, the present Minister of Works directed the redesigning and re-scoping of the Section I of the contract. The alignment was divided into two with one phase redesigned to be on continuously reinforced concrete pavement, while the remaining with asphaltic pavement.

“Approval for Section I, Phase 1 for a length of 38km on the concrete pavement was given to Messrs Dangote Industries (Nig.) Ltd, while the remaining 127km remained with the substantive contractor. Phase 1 was flagged off on October 17, 2024, with a 14-month completion period.”

Mohammed further explained that the Federal Executive Council had approved a request to rescope the project, but the contractor, Julius Berger, did not agree to the revised terms of the contract.

He added, “Due to the stalemate of the contract and, most importantly, the desire of President Bola Tinubu, as encapsulated in the Renewed Hope Agenda infrastructure initiative, to see to the completion of this laudable project, also to alleviate the sufferings of Nigerians plying the road, the ministry re-scoped it and got the approval of the Federal Executive Council.

“The award for the Re-scoping and Downward Review of Contract for the Rehabilitation of Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Dual Carriageway in FCT, Kaduna and Kano States, Contract No.6350, Section I (Abuja-Kaduna) in favour of Messrs Julius Berger Plc from the sum of N797.26bn to N740.79bn was granted by FEC on September 23, 2024, and conveyed to the company on October 3, 2024.”

As a result of the latest development, Works Minister David Umahi has annulled 11 contracts within a span of 16 months.