Five years after Abuja-Kano road was awarded to Julius Beeger construction company, it has not been completed even as funds to fast-track it were released.
Senator Shehu Sani, former Senator representing Kaduna Central senatorial district, in a Twitter post lamented the slow pace of work on the road.
According to him, the project was awarded at N165 billion, but later raised to N795 billion. Yet the construction has not been completed.
“The 400km Abuja to Kano road contract was awarded by the FG at the sum of N165Billion to Julius Berger. Later reviewed to N795 billion; that’s about N2 billion per kilometre. Now that the work has stopped in the name of insecurity. ONLY GOD knows the cost of the next REVIEW,” he tweeted.
Replying to the former senator’s post, Hafsa Mohammad wrote: “The most expensive road on the continent if not in the world! Even if the road links to heaven it wouldn’t have been more costly! Above all time consumption is unparalleled anywhere!”
Last year, Funso Adebiyi, the Director of Highways Construction and Rehabilitation, Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, said the road project will be completed before the end of 2023.
However, it is just a few days to 2023 and there is no sign that the Abuja-Kano dual carriageway project will be completed soon.
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In August 2020, the House of Representatives committee on Works and Housing revealed that the Federal Government had paid N70 billion to Julius Berger for the project.
The committee however alleged that the contract with a completion period of 36 weeks was inflated by over N60 billion.
It argued that at the time the contract was awarded, there were other companies that put up bids for about N90 billion for the 375-kilometre road project.
The federal government had approved the rehabilitation of the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano dual carriageway with a length of about 375km, a major trunk road linking the southern and northern parts of the country.
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The reconstruction, according to the government, was among three critical road projects across the country that would benefit from the Infrastructure Development Fund it created.
The Federal Government insisted that the rehabilitation was suspended due to security threat after the March 2022 train attack.
