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Resolution of the Senate yesterday was sequel to a motion titled, “Urgent need to investigate the rehabilitation of Mararaba-Mubi-Michika-Bama Road Contract and Sponsored by Senator Elisha Cliff Ishaku, Peoples Democratic Party Party, PDP, Adamawa North.

Presenting the motion, Senator Ishaku said that the Senate is “Aware that between May 2017 and May 2018, RHAS Nigeria Limited received payment of N1, 625, 000, 000 (one billion, six hundred and twenty-five million naira) in three instalments in the following order: N1, 200, 000, 000 (one billion, two hundred thousand naira) on 12th May 2017; N175, 000, 000 (one hundred and seventy-five million naira) on 31st January 2018; and N250, 000, 000 (two hundred and fifty million naira) on 23rd May 2018;

“Regrets that over two years and getting to three years after awarding the contract, with mobilisations as indicated above, no meaningful progress has been made on the project except construction of drains and culverts.”

According to him, the Senate “Notes that the contract for the rehabilitation of Mararaba-Mubi-Michika-Bama road in Adamawa/Borno States was awarded to RHAS Nigeria Limited on the 27th day of February 2017 as part of Federal Government’s reconstruction efforts of the north-eastern part of Nigeria;

“Further notes that the contract also includes rehabilitation of the three bridges along the road that were damaged by soldiers in the fight against Boko Haram in order to prevent the insurgents from gaining access to the troops “

He said that the Upper Chamber is “Worried that RHAS Nigeria Limited has identified security threat as a major challenge in executing the contract because of activities of Boko Haram in the north-east, especially in Adamawa and Borno States where the road is situated;

“Further worried that economic and social life in Adamawa and Borno States has been affected fundamentally and negatively due to the condition of the Mararaba-Mubi-Michika-Bama road, which makes movement along the route almost impossible, thereby further rendering Nigerians resident in those areas susceptible to attacks;

“Concerned that residents of many communities in Adamawa and Borno States live in perpetual fear of attack by insurgents; a situation that is aggravated by poor road network along Mararaba-Mubi-Michika-Bama route, which has continued to be a nightmare despite awarding the contract almost three years ago.”

He said further that the Senate is “Alarmed that the security threat in the northeast, especially Adamawa and the Borno States, will likely create a situation of stalemate in the rehabilitation of Mararaba-Mubi-Michika-Bama road due to security threats, as the contractor, RHAS Nigeria Limited equally pointed out in a letter to the Minister of Power, Works and Housing sometime in 2018;

“Convinced that there is need to protect lives and property of citizens and also ensure meticulous use of public funds while providing infrastructure, there is need to revoke the contract for the rehabilitation of the Mararaba-Mubi-Michika-Bama road in Adamawa/Borno States and award it to Army Corps of Engineers that has the capacity to undertake the project amidst the present security challenges; and

“Further Convinced that awarding the contract to Army Corps of Engineers under the Ministry of Defence with a full military presence on site will facilitate speedy rehabilitation of the road, thereby improving economic and social lives of citizens while also paving way for transparency and accountability in expending public funds.” 

In his contribution, Senator Abba Moro, PDP, Benue who noted that across the country, road contracts are abandoned with contractors not held to account, said, “Must contractors especially the local ones get contracts just to grab what they want. We need to investigate it as a way of our legislative intervention.”

Also speaking, Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed, APC,  Adamawa who noted that some contractors believe that contracts are given to them as a share of their national cake,  said that the company must be investigated in order to ascertain whether it has the capacity to handle such a project, adding that Rhas Nigeria Limited must be investigated and not just the Federal Ministry of Works.

In his remarks, President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan said the committee of work would investigate and find out why the project has been stopped.