14 years after, N8 billion Adamawa road remains uncompleted

The construction of the road is also expected to boost commercial activities between Nigeria and Cameroon.

A major road project in Adamawa State, which when completed will provide access to goods and services for thousands of people, is yet to be completed 14 years after the contract was first awarded.

The Maiha-Fulbere-Zhedinyi-Pella road project including two bridges was awarded to A.G. Vision Construction Nigeria Limited in 2007 by the Murtala Nyako administration with a completion period of 24 months. The road, when completed, will provide access to transportation of goods and services between many villages in Hong and Gombi local governments and parts of northern Cameroon.

The contract for the road was initially awarded for N2.9 billion, before it was increased to N7 billion on August 3, 2017, and then to N8.2 billion.

The construction of the road is also expected to boost commercial activities between Nigeria and Cameroon.

Despite its bad state, the road served as the only alternative route for people who escaped from the conflict zone when Boko Haram insurgents captured Mubi, the second largest town in Adamawa State, in November 2014.

Officials blame the Boko Haram insurgency and inadequate funding for the non-completion of the road, but the current government in Adamawa says work has continued there.

“When we came on board, we realised that there were lots of encumbrances around the contractual process, we had to sit down again for a very long time with the contractors, going forth and back.

“We ended up agreeing on terms that made them mobilise back to the site. Now, they have mobilised to site on Pella-Maiha road and they are doing good work,” the Adamawa State Commissioner for Information, Umar Pella, said.

However, findings by this reporter show that the construction company has again halted the work.

“Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri is trying to do his best. He asked us to go back to the site that we will be doing the work, he will be paying us as work progresses, which we have resumed from the end of the project at Mararraban-Pella. 

“We did a solid job up to Pella, but unfortunately nothing was forthcoming from the government as the payment and the company relaxed a little,” Francis Dzarma, an engineer with the construction company, said.

Residents say the non-completion of the road is affecting their daily operations. They urged the government to complete the road.

“You can see that they have again suspended the work. We are told that the government has not played its part based on the present arrangement of the contract,” a resident, Usaku Sanda, said.

The Contract

The contract for the road was initially awarded to A.G. Vision Construction Nigeria Limited for N2.9 billion in 2007, the first year of the Murtala Nyako administration. Ten years later, on August 3, 2017, the administration of Governor Bindo Jibrilla increased the contract sum to N7 billion and later to N8.2 billion.

However, the construction company says it has only been paid N5.2 billion of the contract sum which is commensurate to the work it has done.

“The previous regimes in the state had given us N5.2 billion, work had started but we later abandoned it during the Boko Haram insurgency, though, the amount paid to the company is equal to the work executed before the abandonment,” Mr Dzarma said.

Checks by this reporter show that between 2015 and 2020, the government budgeted N1.78 billion to construct the road. In 2015, N900 million was budgeted. Nothing was earmarked in 2016 and 2018, N13.3 million was budgeted in 2017, N250 million in 2019 and N500 million in 2020.

 

However, the budgetary provisions in those years were not cash-backed and the sums of money were not paid to the contractor.

Communities react

Communities along the road have expressed divergent views on the project; while some are happy with the resumption of work, others are worried about the delay in the completion of the project.