Reps Probe Abandoned N11bn Numan-Jalingo Road Project

The House of Representatives has mandated its Committee on Works to investigate the abandonment of the N11 billion Numan -Jalingo Road contract awarded since 2017.

This followed the adoption of amendments to a motion moved by member representing Jalingo, Yorro and Zing Federal Constituency, Hon. Sadiq Abbass Tafida at plenary on Wednesday.

Moving the motion, the lawmaker reminded that Numan/Jalingo Road is a Trunk ‘A’ Federal Government Road that links most of the cities in the North with the Eastern parts of Nigeria.

He said, “In 2017, the construction of the road was awarded to DEUX Project Nig. Ltd for Eleven billion naira with a completion timeline of twenty (20) months by the Muhammadu Buhari administration, but no progress has been made at the site in seven years.

“During a visit to the site, the former Honourable Minister of State, Works, and Housing, Hon. Mư’azu Sambo, stated that the Federal Government had allocated N3 billion to continue the project, attributing the delay to COVID-19 but progress remains slow for over 30 months.

“The contractor gave a conflicting information of the former Honourable Minister, stating that N1,500,000,000.00 had been disbursed for the project and citing security challenges as hindrances to progress.

“Conflicting reasons have not been resolved, and the Contractor Deux Project Nig. Ltd. lacks necessary capacity for continued construction work, leading to excuses.”

The lawmaker also said bandits, armed robbers and kidnappers have taken advantage of the deplorable situation of the road, turning the area to a permanent hub for criminal activities.