FCT Minister, Chief Nyesom Wike has decried the spate of contract variation costs of most of the uncompleted abandoned and ongoing projects scattered across the territory.
The minister in company of the Minister of State For FCT, Dr Mariya Mamoud who raised the concerns during an inspection tour of Bwari road projects and the ongoing repairs at the Usuma Dam, in Bwari, lamented that the monetary difference in the contracts were not only alarming, but unacceptable.
Chief Wike wondered why the road contract that had attained ninety percent completion was abandoned.
He said his Administration would not accept such variations as he vowed to overhaul the entire system to ensure transparency in contract awards and execution.
“The job was awarded in 2017 at N20 billion. In 2020, the contract was revised to N50 billion. As I speak to you, they have paid about N50 billion and what is outstanding is about N900 million.
“Now they are telling us that the N900 million is not enough to complete a job they said had reached 90 percent completion. Therefore, asking for another variation, we are not going to accept. Even the engineering services, we are going to overhaul the system,” Wike said.
The Minister also revealed plans to prioritize and fund ten projects, as part of the measures to check the menace of abandoned and uncompleted projects in the territory.
The minister who complained of so many variations in the cost of contracts being handled by the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), pointed out that the Engineering Department would also be overhauled.
“I have never seen a thing like this in my life. What we see in FCDA contract variations from N10 billion to N119 billion and from N50 billion to N200 billion is alarming, and I am not going to accept this”.
The FCT Minister who also inspected the Usuma Dam Water Works, at Ushafa in Bwari Area Council, also expressed displeasure over the delivery of the water project, which was supposed to be treated with all sense of urgency.
The minister said he was told that the project was awarded as an emergency contract, but realized on getting to the project site that only a letter of intent was given to the contractors in Aug.2022.
” Water is very important and so I have directed that the project is no longer an emergency”.
Wike said that the project would be re-awarded, adding that his office would supervise the procurement process and invite other companies to bid for the project.
The Minister also noted that the Administration will commence flagging off the resurfacing of most of the roads in Garki, Maitama, and Wuse by Monday.
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