Nasarawa Govt Revokes Road Contract

Gov Tanko Almakura of Nasarawa State on Tuesday revoked the contract for the construction of the 64-kilometre Gitata-Panda-Gurku road, citing the failure of the handlers to complete the job on schedule.

Almakura announced the revocation while addressing the people of Kube in Panda Development Area, after inspecting the road project.

The contract was initially awarded by former Nasarawa Governor, Alhaji Akwe Doma, but was abandoned after he left office.

Almakura, who succeeded Doma in 2011, met with the contractor in 2013 and, after an agreement, paid N3.6 billion for the completion of the job.

But the governor, after inspecting work so far done on the project, during his visit on Tuesday, described what he had seen as “very disappointing”.

He expressed shock that not much was on ground after the contractor received the N3.6 billion, noting that even the “little work” so far carried out was of very low quality.

“When I met with the contractor in 2013, he assured me that the job will be completed, and on time. On the strength of that promise, we released N3.6 billion. I am just shocked and disappointed,” he said.

He apologised to the people over the non-completion of the road project, but absolved government of blame because it had done its part.

Almakura promised to re-award the job to a more competent contractor who would complete the job before the expiration of his administration in 2019.