Ife-Ifewara Road Project: No Money Was Paid During My Tenure Fashola Responds To RCCG Petition “Ministry of Works and Housing deserves an apology from us and because the whole world is listening to us, I tender that apology “Unreservedly”, Petitioner The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN has clarified the issue of payment to Cartil Construction Nigeria Limited in respect of the rehabilitation of Ife-Ifewara road in Osun State even as the Redeem Christian Church of God apologized to the Ministry for its allegation that payment was made to the Contractor by the Ministry for the rehabilitation of the road which was done by the Church between 2016 and 2019. Speaking on Thursday 15 April, 2021 at the Public Hearing of the the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions, the Minister clarified that no payment had been made by the current administration with respect to the rehabilitation of the road. The Minister stated that the contract was awarded to Messrs. Cartill Construction Nigeria Limited five years before the Buhari Administration and six years before he was appointed as a Minister of Works and Housing. Countering the allegation by RCCG that monies were paid to the contactor, Fashola debunked the allegation saying that the then Minister of Works only approved the mandatory 15% mobilization fee on 31st March, 2011 and another payment was made after the work had reached about 26.21% on 29th December, 2011. “These payments were all made four years before the Buhari’s administration,”, he explained. Responding further to the petition, the Minister stated that the Ministry did not make any payment to the contractor as a refund or certify any work done between 2016 and 2019, adding that the road in question was not a federal road but the contract was initiated as Parliamentary Constituency Project which was domiciled in the budget of the Ministry, hence the intervention of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing. While he thanked the Chairman and other distinguished members of the committee for its impartial and dispassionate consideration of the petition, Mr. Fashola said that there was no basis for the petition by way of facts or evidence. While commending the leadership of RCCG for intervening in the rehabilitation of the road, Fashola explained that there were procedures to be followed in intervening on Federal and State roads. Responding on behalf of RCCG, the Petitioner, Pastor Niyi Adebanjo apologized to the Minister saying that the petition was not targeted at him, but was meant to expose some perceived sharp practices.  He said that they thought that the Federal Government was to approve another payment for the road which was rehabilitated free by Pastor Encoh Adeboye as part of the church’s social corporate responsibility. He said: “The rehabilitation of the road was awarded and paid for by Pastor Enoch Adeboye, hence any further claim by any company should be seen as illegal and unjust.” “Ministry of Works and Housing deserves an apology from us and because the whole world is listening to us, I tender that apology “Unreservedly”, Petitioner On behalf of the Committee, the Chairman, Senator Patrick Akinyelure, commended the Minister for his presentation and for correcting the impression that some monies were paid during the Buhari led administration. He said that the purpose of the public hearing was to clear all grey areas regarding payments that were alleged to be paid by the Federal Ministry and not to witch-hunt anybody. While commending the RCCG for the intervention and for crying out for the perceived wrong doing, he charged them to follow due procedure and guideline in future intervention to avoid a repeat of such occurrence.   ...

FG Committed to Building Quality Roads - Fashola Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola SAN has reiterated the commitment of the Federal Government in providing quality road infrastructure across the nation. The Minister stated this during an inspection visit to the sections I and II of the ongoing dualisation/expansion of Abuja–Keffi– Akwanga road construction project Fashola was in company of the Honourable Minister of State for Works and Housing Engr. Abubakar Aliyu during the inspection. He said that the quality of road construction across the nation cannot be compromised as the Ministry had the manpower and the technical know-how to build good road of international standard. The Minister noted that all the nation’s highway projects are critical and strategic, describing the Akwanga-Makurdi road, linking the north central and north east as strategic and as such the Federal Government is doing all that is possible to complete it to standard and not rushing them to avoid shabby work. “The essence is to make life better for the people, ease traffic flow for the commuters and promote economic activities of the citizens" he stated Fashola explained that a lot of activities are involved in road construction, such as excavation, cutting down of trees, relocation of existing structures to have clear access for construction. He explained that during the road construction citizens' rights are highly considered and their right of ownership protected in terms of compensation and related matters “We respect human activities along the road, we have to meet them, talk to them and agree with them. We have to remove electrical installations and all that for our work to move on “he said. Earlier, the Project Consultant informed the Minister that they have made a lot of progress with an aggregate of 45.8 percent completion of work in Section I (Abuja-Keffi) and 41percent completion in section II (Keffi-Akwanga). Breaking down the work progress, the Consultant stated that, 90 percent has been achieved in the construction of culverts and drainages, 60 percent attained in bridges and 40 percent in the pavement construction. He also listed: relocation of utilities (telecom, water & electricity), compensation, Covid-19 lockdown and outstanding payment as part of their challenges. In his contribution, the Federal Controller of Works, Nasarawa State, Engr. Daikwo told the Ministers that the progress of work on the road is encouraging even as the Covid-19 lockdown had affected its progress. He informed the Ministers that the land acquisition and compensation process is at an advanced stage, while relocation of existing services away from the proposed road corridor is still pending and requires client action. The 220km Abuja- Keffi-Akwanga-Lafia- Makurdi road project is 85% funded by the Chinese Export-Import Bank and 15% counterpart fund from the Federal Government which is a budget issue. “For those who have issues with the borrowing, they can now come and see what it has done. All the people who work here would probably not have work to do if not for the borrowing" Fashola said. The Project is being implemented by the Road Sector Development Team (RSDT) Unit of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing   ...

*“Stop the abuse of roads”, FG appeals to road users.* The Federal Government has appealed to road users to stop the misuse of roads as it threatens their safety and leads to unnecessary loss of lives and properties. The Director of Highway Construction and Rehabilitation in the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Engineer Funsho  Adebiyi  made this appeal while speaking to some correspondents in  Abuja on the  state of federal roads. Adebiyi speaking specifically on the Enugu - Onitsha expressway complained that drivers were using  pavements of the highways which are being mistaken for a third lane while heavy duty trucks park on them sometimes for days to carry out maintenance work and change diesel thereby pouring some on the roads, a practice which he described as a threat to the safety and life span of the roads. Engineer Adebiyi said, “The Heavy duty trucks park on the shoulders of the road and carry out maintenance work thereby spoiling it. The parking on the road is a threat to the safety of our roads, in addition our people still over speed.” The Director pointed out that from the reports of the Federal Road Safety Commission reckless driving accounts for about 35% of road accidents while bad roads account for only 1.3%. Engineer Adebiyi said when the roads were bad people were clamouring for the repairs but now that they are being fixed over speeding, overloading and reckless driving have become threats to life. The Director also spoke on the misconception by some members of the public that the Umuomi  - Awka road in Anambra State  was a  3 carriageway. He explained that what makes it look like a 3 carriageway was the pavement which had been redesigned to strengthen the shoulders of the road into hard core due to heavy duty trucks plying the road. Engineer Adebiyi said “Because of the heavy duty trucks  that pass there we now redesigned the pavement so that the shoulders are now hard core.” "They are designed to carry the same weight as the 2 carriageway." He further said, “What we have in the current situation is that the drivers now run on the shoulder but as they approach the flyover, it closes down into 2 lanes, they don’t realize that what they were using was not actually a carriageway but a shoulder and erroneously conclude that the Engineers were reducing the width of the road to 2 instead of 3 carriageways.” The Director who also noted that people were complaining that the pavement was not marked said binders are not marked until pavement is completed just as a house is not painted until plastering is done. He explained further that the reason why the pavement is opened  for use even as work is yet to be completed is to ensure smooth traffic flow and test running of the under laying materials while using it so that if there is any error it would be detected and promptly corrected while the engineers were still there. He disclosed that the Ministry was taking steps to do the shoulder markings, adding that a mini speed breaker would also be put in place to check over speeding. Engineer Adebiyi  said that the Federal Ministry of Works and Housig had projects in virtually every section of the trunk A roads which run across the country with Engineers in each of the sections working simultaneously. He added that every state of the Federation had a Federal Controller of Works who reports to the Zonal Controller who in turn reports to him, adding that the structure allows  steady delivery of work. ...