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By Daniel Adaji
The Federal Government has terminated the contract awarded to Levant Construction Ltd for the reconstruction of the Benin-Sapele-Warri Road (Section 1: Benin – Imasabor) due to what it described as “non-performance”.
Minister of Works, Sen. David Umahi, announced the decision in a statement on Wednesday, after a meeting with the chief executives of GELD Construction Ltd and SKECC Nigeria Ltd in Abuja.
The meeting, held in the presence of the Minister of State for Works, Bello Goronyo, and other top officials, reviewed the slow pace of the road project under the Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme.
“We have three sections there. We have the Levant section. Unfortunately, Levant has not lived up to expectations. We gave them a series of warning letters. We also gave them the last termination notice. They did not respond,” Umahi said.
He added that despite efforts, including pleading with the Edo State Government to handle some of the worst parts of the road, Levant abandoned the site. The Governor of Edo State intervened; that section is ongoing very well. Levant has since left the site,” he said.
Umahi directed the Permanent Secretary to officially terminate the contract, begin a joint measurement process, and notify the company’s bank for repayment of the Advance Payment Guarantee (APG). “Failing which, the matter would be taken to EFCC,” he warned.
Despite the setback with Levant, the minister expressed satisfaction with the commitments from other contractors. “Geld has accepted to go back to their section; we’ve agreed to review their project. SKECC has about one kilometre, which they started with milled asphalt… We are pleading with them to go back and remedy this,” he said.
He also praised the governors of Delta and Edo states for their support. “I commend [Governor Oborevwori] for the very beautiful work he’s doing. Three flyovers at the same time. We appealed to him to add ten kilometres with reinforced concrete. He has accepted. So I commend him very highly,” he said.
Addressing recent claims that the North is being marginalised in road projects under the Renewed Hope administration, Umahi described the accusations as “absolutely unfounded, malicious and uncharitable”.
“In this ministry, we don’t care where anybody came from. We don’t count where projects are cited,” he said, adding that Niger State alone accounts for 26% of the NNPC Tax Credit projects, compared to 5% in the South West and 4% in the South East.
He listed a series of multi-billion-naira road projects ongoing in the North, including the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano road (N252bn and N525bn for Sections I–III), the Sokoto-Zamfara-Katsina-Kaduna road (N825bn), and the 439-kilometre Akwanga-Jos-Bauchi-Gombe Superhighway.
“The North has 52% of the Renewed Hope Legacy Projects, and the South has 48%,” he said, defending the administration’s balanced infrastructure agenda.
On the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, Umahi acknowledged the large investment but compared it to similar-scale projects in the North.
“You get to Kebbi; we have 258 kilometres of one carriageway procured for about N958bn. Sokoto is 120 kilometres at N454bn,” he said.