The House of Representatives Ad Hoc Committee looking into the sluggish progress and disputes surrounding the purported re-award of the Ijebu-Igbo-Ibadan road project began hearings with a theatrical flourish.
The Federal Ministry of Works and the contractor were invited to a meeting with the MPs on Tuesday after the Hon. Kwamoti Bitrus Laori ad hoc committee toured the project site in Ibadan, Oyo State, and portions of Ogun State last Thursday.
The lawmakers asked the Ministry of Works personnel to explain to them why the 45-kilometer Ijebu-Igbo-Ibadan road project was awarded to a different company although the original contractor was still on the job site throughout the investigative hearing.
During the probe panel’s first meeting on September 7, 2023, Engr. Adedamola Kuti, Director, Highway (South West), Federal Ministry of Works, informed the group that the contract handled by DC Engineering Ltd had been canceled since September 2022 and had been reawarded to two other businesses. He then assured the MPs that they would receive a copy of the letter of termination in a span of seventy-two hours.
But after around three weeks, neither Kuti nor any other ministry representative could produce a copy of the letter terminating the employee. Additionally, the ministry representatives were unable to produce any correspondence from the Federal Executive Council (FEC) or the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) confirming their clearance to reassign the N54 billion project to a different contractor. Additionally, they offered no details about the bidding procedure.
The committee was informed by DC Engineering Ltd.’s Executive Director, Engr. Ade Adedeji, that the ministry has not sent him a letter terminating their contract, and that their staff and equipment are still at the project site. He said that the same ministry had only paid them last month, in August 2023, and had certified their job.
But he was concerned about the way ministry officials disregarded their request to review the projects since material costs had increased from N9.8 billion to at least N14 billion, and instead of doing so, they awarded the identical project to a different contractor for N54 billion.
There was surprise among the MPs when they questioned the Ministry of Works representatives, who were escorted by Engr. Agboola Olajide, Deputy Director, Highway, to explain the project’s re-award. Later, Olajide claimed that although the project had been awarded to Areatech Construction Ltd., a different contractor, since September 2022, the termination notice had not been sent. He pointed out that the legal department is responsible for sending out this kind of communication. The legislators questioned his claim, pointing out that the ministry’s departments were meant to collaborate with one another.
The deputy director reiterated what his boss Kuti had told the committee during the committee’s first meeting on September 7, 2023, when the lawmakers questioned why the ministry certified the work completed by DC Engineering in May 2023 and continued to pay them in August 2023 rather than looking for a way to recoup money given to the contractor. However, according to a check conducted by our reporter, all payments must first pass through director- and deputy-headed offices before being approved by the Ministry of Works. These offices include the finance department, planning, audit, checking, CPO, and audit departments.
DC Engineering Ltd was given the contract for the Ijebu-Igbo-Ibadan road project in 2018. The project was supposed to be finished in 24 months, or 2020, but according to the documents provided to the ad hoc committee, the ministry only paid the company 15% of the contract amount, or N1.3 billion, from 2018 to 2023. Many blamed this for the project’s sluggish progress.
During the legislators’ project inspection last Thursday, it was noted that 7 km of the 45 km road were being managed by a business called Duhu & Sons Construction. The company was given 14 kilometers and mobilized in 2011, but in 2013 the review was reduced to 7 km and they were still compensated. 45km, including Duhu & Sons’, was given to DC Engineering after five years of neglect.
On December 23, 2019, the ministry redirected the 7 km to Duhu & Sons while decreasing DC Engineering’s work by 7 km and contract value from N9.8 billion to N8.8 billion.
Upon closer examination, the parliamentarians discovered that just a portion of the bridge’s asphalt had been installed, and other sections of the road had collapsed. The committee chairman, Laori, clarified that what they saw was less than the 3.7 kilometers that Engineer Olajide said the company completed, and that it was not too far from the Ita-Egba bridge in Ogun State. Additionally, he stated that it was clear that Duhu & Sons had paid a sum of money to be on the 7 km road since 2011 and that the business was no longer present. The ministry was unable to say with certainty whether or not they had ended Duhu & Sons’ contract.
According to papers our correspondent was able to view, DC Engineering Ltd. received a final warning letter on December 26, 2022, and Engineer Kuti informed the committee that the contract for the Ijebu-Igbo Ibadan route had been re-awarded to two businesses in September of the same year. Two businesses, he said, were chosen to work from both ends—the Oyo and Ogun States.
On Tuesday, Olajide informed the committee that only one company received a reaward. They didn’t disclose the name of the company, Areatech Construction Ltd., for more than a minute.
The Federal Ministry of Works got a letter from the Bureau of Public Procurement on February 23, 2023, titled “Certificate of No Objection” for “Areatech.” The letter stated that although the ministry submitted N67 billion for clearance to the BPP, the BPP only authorized N54 billion. The letter casts doubt on Kuti’s assertion that the project was handled by two companies.
According to a letter dated May 10, 2023, and referred as BPP/S./CCM/23/VOL./358, the Ministry of Works’ “Certificate of No Objection” in favor of “Areatech” has been suspended. Based on this, BPP decided that before granting a certificate of no objection to another company, a letter of termination is necessary.
Laori asked Olajide if there was a consultant overseeing the project to get clarification on a number of matters, but Olajide said that there wasn’t. But following input from a few of his teammates, he announced that the consultant’s contract was up.
The Ad Hoc Committee of the House of Representatives informed DC Engineering Ltd that they would guarantee the company reimburses the government treasury for any amounts spent by taxpayers that do not correspond to the quality of work performed.
The Federal Ministry of Works, the Director of Engineering Highways (South West), the Director of Finance, and the Legal Departments were then called by the committee to attend on Thursday.
If the officials do not provide the required explanations about the controversies surrounding the re-award of the abovementioned project, the Laori-led committee stated that they will not hesitate to call in the Minister of Works.
