The House of Representatives, on Tuesday, called on Federal Government to urgently and without further delay direct the contractor, Julius Berger, to immediately return to site and complete the ongoing reconstruction of the N155 billion Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano expressway.
The resolution was passed sequel to the adoption of a motion of urgent national importance on the ‘Need for Federal Ministry of Works & Housing to direct the contractor to immediately reconstruction of the Abuja-Kaduna expressway’, sponsored by Hon. Garba Datti and 38 other lawmakers.
The contract was part of the 711 highway projects worth N6.26 trillion being implemented by the present administration across the country.
The lawmakers also tasked Federal Government to deploy the military personnel and material resources as well as intelligence necessary to secure the Abuja-Kaduna expressway to enable the contractor to resume work without risk to personnel and equipment.
In his lead debate, Hon Datti recalled that in March 2021, the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, announced that the Federal Executive Council had approved the contract for the rehabilitation of the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Expressway, amongst other approvals with a delivery date of December 2022.
“The House equally recalls that the Honourable Minister announced that the firm, which had initially been contracted to undertake the rehabilitation work on the road, Julius Berger Plc. would also be responsible for the reconstruction of the road.
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“The House further recalls that following incessant and rampant incidents of banditry along the Abuja-Kaduna Highway, the contractor withdrew its workers from the road for security reasons.
“The House notes that at the time of the withdrawal by the contractor, at least one-half of the stretch of road had been graded and covered only in laterite which, after the intense rainfall of the past few months, has given way to gorges and potholes that have left the road un-motorable and severely slowed down traffic such that a journey that would ordinarily last one and a half hours now took three hours to complete;
“The House further notes that because of the current condition of the road, it only takes for a vehicle or truck to break down on it for a few minutes and it would result in a build-up of static traffic.
“The House stressed that this was exactly what happened on the road i.e. a truck broke down on the road as a result of which there was massive gridlock on the road and that this gridlock was cleared only after five days.
“The House is distraught that, to worsen matters, the gridlock that was occasioned recently often left motorists and commuters stranded on the road sometimes for between six to nine hours on a journey that should last no more than one and a half hours.
“The House is anxious that there is a high probability that these gridlocks will become a very recurrent occurrence in the immediate future.
“The House is wary that although the security situation has recently vastly improved along that stretch of road, gridlock on it still exposes commuters held up in it to the probability of bandit and terrorist attacks with their attendant loss of lives and property.
“The House is mindful that the Abuja-Kaduna highway is the gateway between the North and the South of Nigeria and the major link road to the North-West and North-East as well as to many neighbouring countries.
“The House is equally mindful that the Abuja-Kaduna highway is the key outlet for the transportation of persons, commodities and goods across Nigeria and this is evident in the extraordinary traffic on it.
“The House is worried that the situation on the Abuja-Kaduna Highway has become a debilitating drawback for the Nigerian economy, that if not immediately rectified, spells doom for the economy and the social life of Nigerians contrary to section 15(1) of the Constitution, which mandates the Nigerian State to ‘provide adequate facilities for and encourage free mobility of people, goods and services throughout’ Nigeria as well as section 41(1) which guarantees the right to freedom of movement throughout Nigeria to every Nigerian.
“The House is determined that that the aforementioned circumstances have made it urgent that the contractor, Julius Berger Plc. be immediately brought back to site to complete this phase of the contract, especially the stretch between Jere and Kaduna,” Hon Datti urged.
To this end, the House mandated the House Committee on Works to liaise with the Minister of Works and Housing as well as the heads of the relevant security agencies towards ensuring the implementation of the above resolutions and report to the House within three weeks.
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