Ekiti To Penalise Defaulting Contractors

The Ekiti State House of Assembly has warned that any contractor that fails to deliver quality jobs on schedule in accordance with their contractual agreements with government will be penalised.

The House Committee Chairman on Works and Transport, Mr Ogunrinde Ojo, gave the warning on Monday in Ado-Ekiti while addressing some contractors handling some key projects in the state.

He warned that any erring contractor would henceforth be blacklisted.

Ojo decried the high rate of uncompleted projects and cases of shoddy jobs on some projects executed under the previous administration.

He described those behind such practice as “saboteurs,” who were out to undermine the good intention of the current administration and its eight-point agenda.

The chairman condemned contractors who indulged in slow pace of work on some road projects, especially the dualisation of the Ado-Ifaki Road.

The affected roads, he added, were so strategic to the development of the state, reiterating the lawmakers’ determination to ensure their completion on schedule.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Commissioner for Works and Transport, Mr Sola Adebayo, has also said that infrastructure development was one of the administration’s major areas of focus.

He told NAN that the previous administration awarded more than 200 road contracts, but noted with regret that up till date none of the projects had recorded more than between 20 per cent and 80 per cent completion stage.

Adebayo noted that the contract for the Ado-Ifaki dual carriage road was awarded more than three years ago, but was still not up to 50 per cent completion stage in spite of the fact that 70 per cent mobilisation fee had been paid to contractors.

He said government planned to sit down with the contractors with a view to mobilising them back to site.

The commissioner said government planned to prioritise the road projects as part of the strategies to get them completed within its four years tenure.

“It takes between N40 million and N60 million to do a kilometre of road. To construct any road, especially a 10- kilometre road, you are talking of nothing less than between N400 million and N500 million.

“If you take this from the state budget of about N80 billion, how much do you think will remain for other 13 ministries that equally deserve attention?”