The House of Representatives on Thursday urged the Federal Ministry of Works to suspend, for the time being, the wholesale adoption of cement for road construction, pending the conclusion of its investigation.
The resolution was passed in response to a motion titled ‘Need to investigate the adoption of concrete technology for road construction in Nigeria,’ sponsored by Hon. Khadija Bukar Ibrahim.
In her lead debate, Hon. Ibrahim affirmed that “the Federal Government, through the Federal Ministry of Works, has several ongoing road contracts across the country, including those awarded under the Federal Government Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme (RITCS) Executive Order 007 Phase II by NNPC, valued at over N1.4 trillion.
“The House also notes that the Federal Executive Council approved the awards of the contracts to which the Federal Ministry of Works, Department of Highway (bridges and design), in preparation for the implementation of the project.
“The House further notes that a due process certificate of ‘No Objection’ was granted by the Bureau of Public Procurement to the Federal Ministry of Works for the construction and rehabilitation of all the federal road projects.
“The House is aware that the contractors submitted a performance guarantee of 10% of the contract sum to secure successful project completion.
“The House is concerned that the contract agreements have strict liquidated damages clauses, with supervision and monitoring by the Federal Ministry of Works to ensure that standard specifications are not compromised.
“The House is also concerned that several studies have revealed that the use of rigid or cement concrete pavements in road construction has significant technical limitations and constraints.
“The House is worried that the Hon. Minister of Works’ new policy on cement concrete pavement adoption, without in-depth studies of the comparative advantages and disadvantages with asphalt, may contradict technical specifications, potentially leading to contract breaches and potential arbitration and litigation during a challenging economic time.
To address these concerns, the House mandated its Committees on Works, Environment, Finance, and Judiciary to investigate the merits and demerits of using cement concrete for road construction compared to asphalt and report back within three weeks for further legislative action.
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