Minister of Works, Engr. Dave Umahi has denied speculations making the rounds to suggest that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu influenced the process leading to the award of Lagos-Calabar Highway.
This is coming just as the minister on Friday insisted that the Federal Government did not secure any loan for the construction of the 700 kilometers coastal highway.
Speaking as a guest on Arise Television’s Morning Show, Umahi stated that the project is to be completed in eight years and that it will cost N4 billion per kilometer.
The minister insisted that President Tinubu did not have a hand in the procurement process, but that the job was given to Hitec because they have the competence and that they have a lot of Nigerian engineers that are being trained, who he said they also give small contracts so that they can also learn and benefit from that.
Giving a breakdown of the project financing so far, Umahi said, “We have paid 30 per cent of the cost for Section 1 and Section 2, it is N1.33 trillion and we have only committed 30 per cent of the cost of the project. The 70 per cent is the low component and that low component has not come.
“By December, I believe strongly that we would have completed Section 1, which ought to be for 36 months. But this 30 kilometers that we have completed is being done within one year, just 12 months and I am very happy with what Hitec is doing.
“Hitec is not just a contracting firm; they are development partners of this country. People always look at one side of an issue; you are not looking at competence, ability to deliver the work, availability of equipment, the risks being taken by contractors doing this job.
“I know of contractors in this country, not all of them, many of them, when you award contracts to them, they will never put a shovel on ground until they are paid mobilisation.
“That was why I changed the narrative and I said at the bidding process that you will tell us about your financial capacity. If we give you job, you should start the job immediately.
“Also, when we give you mobilisation, we will not give you another money until you exhaust the mobilisation and end a milestone over and above the mobilisation fund,” he said.
He said that he had spoken about the cost of Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, and that two development banks are funding the low component of the project.
“They were with us in Abuja and we came to Lagos to look at the project. There were praises at the World Bank conference in the United States of America, USA before the Minister of Finance, Mr Wale Edun, where they praised the project and Mr President for his reforms on the project.
“When the World Bank people came, we went through the project in Lagos and the Development Bank of Southern Africa too was there, they marvelled at the level of construction and the quality of work and the innovative idea of Mr President for insisting that the project should be done.
“They even said that the project was undervalued. So anybody talking about cost of the project, I am here to defend it.
“Let me also say this, President Bola Tinubu never had anything to do with the procurement process. There are three definitive procurement processes. The first one is total restrictive procurement process. What it means is that if you have a job to build an aeroplane now in Nigeria and you have only one person who have built that kind of aeroplane, you can call him to negotiate with him and then give the job to him.
“So when we were to do the Coastal Highway, we looked at the person that worked with Mr. President when he was the Governor of Lagos State, who tamed the Atlantic Ocean and I’m sure you are aware that the ocean almost took over the entire Victoria Island it was a terrible situation because I was working as a young engineer then building a lot of houses for clients in Lekki Peninsula area of the state. I used to know that one particular bank was swallowed there,” he said.
He stressed that they looked at who is that company that tamed the Atlantic Ocean and turned the menace into grace, where he said there is a wonderland that can be compared to Dubai, Eko Atlantic and that what came to their mind was Hitec, which he said they invited under restrictive procurement for Sections 1 and 2.
“We are having value for money and I have made it clear that a kilometer costs N4 billion, but if you look at the cost of the coastal highway and compare it with the costs of some of the inherited projects like Eleme-One Road that we are constructing, 30 kilometers is N156 billion.
“It was supposed to be done with two types of asphalt, but we came on board and redesigned it and today we have one full carriage way completed on reinforce concrete pavement on the same cost and so work is ongoing in the second carriage way. I can beat my chest and say the Eleme-One cost more, the Abuja-Kano cost more as inherited unlike what Hitec is doing.
“When you talk about contractors, Hitec are not just contractors, they are development partners in this country. I recall that when we had problems on the Independent Bridge working all through the night, I called them, they were the one that supplied all the materials we used to restore the bridge and they did not ask for a kobo. We also called them for some other jobs like that.
“When you see the equipment they parade, put together all the construction companies in the country they don’t have as much as they have. Hitec has the capacity to do the Coastal Highway in more than 10 sections together working by the level of their competence, the engineers they parade and the equipment they have,” he said.
While saying that the project was given to Hitec Construction Company Limited based on its antecedents, Umahi stated that the 47.47 kilometers section of the coastal highway was awarded at N1.06 trillion.
He added that 30 per cent components of the fund were provided by the Federal Government’s counterpart funding.
“As at today, we have not secured one kobo loan on the project, but Hitec Construction Company Limited has invested their money and the job is about 80 per cent done.
“The solar light is not an isolated contract, it is part of the road architecture, you have the cable doctrine, you have the drainage, the tree planting, and of course the train track, which we have made provision for future train construction.
“It’s not part of my mandate, but we have to make that provision. We have three kinds of procurement processes; the first one is restrictive for specialised jobs.
He used that specialised procurement processes for Sections 1 and 2, for Sections 3A and 3B, the Sokoto-Badagry, and some other roads, became selective entries and other contractors were invited.
In each of the other processes, they were bided and Hitec won because of their competence, the equipment they parade, the number of expertise they have and the local content component of their engagement,” he said.
