Govt terminates road contract abandoned by contractor

The Kwara State Government on Sunday announced the termination, with immediate effect, the ongoing construction of 8.3km Wara-Osin/Airport road project in llorin West Local Government Area.

The state Commissioner for Works and Transport, Alhaji Aro Yahaya, disclosed this in llorin on Sunday while speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) after an assessment of the project.

He said the government’s action was imperative following the uncooperative attitude of the United Civil Engineering Limited, the contractor handling the project.

The commissioner said, ”The state government has resolved to terminate the contract two years after the contractor had abandoned the site”.

The commissioner who did not give an accurate figure of the contract’s sum for the project said the contractor had already collected no less than 50 per cent of the contract sum.

According to Yahaya, the termination of the contract will serve as a warning to other contractors handling various ongoing projects in the state.

“Any contractor that fails to work in line with specifications and vision of the state government will not be paid”, the commissioner warned.

In a separate interview, the contractor handling the project, Mr Kayode Osho, said he had not abandoned the project as alleged by the state government.

He said he was unable to go back to site following the refusal of the state government to pay him N21m for the completion of the 8.3-kilometre-road project.

“I have a certificate for N21million since three years ago which the state government had refused to pay and this is hindering the completion of the project,’’ the contractor said.

Osho said that he had borrowed money from a commercial bank for priming and commencement of asphalt-over laying on the road without payment from the state government for over three years.