Works Minister Umahi Orders Arrest Of Contractor Over N14 billion Project

The Minister of Works, *David Umahi*, has ordered the arrest of the Managing Director of Hartland Nigeria Limited over the company’s failure to complete an 11-kilometre section of the Benin-Onitsha Expressway despite receiving about N14 billion from the Federal Government.

Umahi gave the order on Friday during an inspection of the expressway.

Expressing anger over the road’s poor condition and the contractor’s failure to deliver, Umahi said the government had reached an agreement with Hartland to use the funds to complete the 11km stretch from Summit Junction to a bridge, including channelisation and hydraulic structures. He said the contractor had completed only about 40 per cent of the agreed work.

Umahi directed the ministry’s controller to locate and arrest the managing director. He also ordered officials to retrieve details of the contractor’s payments and certificates for all projects handled by the company.

“We paid them up to N14bn and when I paid them that money, we reached an agreement that we were going to finish 11 kilometres from the Summit Junction to this bridge with the money I am paying you, and then do channelisation and hydraulic structures,” he said.

“But today, they have just done about 40 per cent of the agreement. So, I recalled the MD to discuss with him for them to come back to site. I am going to look for him to arrest him.”

Umahi further stated that the ministry would take steps to recover funds paid to Hartland if the company failed to fulfil its contractual obligations.

He directed relevant directors to immediately write to the banks involved to recover the money and ordered a comprehensive review of the contractor’s certificates and payments.

“I want the directors to call up the MPG immediately. You have to write to the banks to pay us that money. We are going to sanction Hartland. This is not acceptable,” he said.

The minister also ordered ministry officials to inspect both bridges on the affected section and assess about one kilometre of the road to determine immediate measures required to ease traffic congestion.

According to Umahi, the contractor’s negligence contributed to the worsening condition of parts of the expressway. He said minor interventions could have reduced the hardship motorists experienced.

“If a project is going on, whether there is payment or not, you cannot allow the situation of the road to be like this. It is your responsibility to at least insist that stone base be used to fill these places,” he said.

“I don’t want to see this kind of embarrassment again. Places where even N20,000, N50,000 or N100,000 can fix should not be allowed to worsen the suffering of the people.”

Umahi further ordered the immediate arrest of anyone found carrying out unauthorised dredging activities along roads under the ministry’s supervision.

“If you see anybody that is doing dredging, I don’t want to know who the person is. You have to cause an arrest immediately. When you see a contractor that is on the road and a section is not passable, you do an arrest,” he added.