The contractor handling the construction of Otu/Illah/Monastery Road, Illah in Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State (names withheld) has allegedly disappeared
with the approved funds of N366,970,873.50 meant for the execution of the contract.
It was gathered that the contract was awarded on December 21, 2012, by the immediate
past administration of Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan and the contractor was immediately
mobilised to move to site with the fund regarded to be 25 percent of the total contract sum of N2 billion.
But after allegedly being mobilised, the contractor, identified as a top politician in the state (names withheld), re-awarded the contract to another politician, who allegedly
abandoned the project. Since then, The Point learnt, the whereabouts of the contractor
had remained unknown.
But the state Commissioner for Works, Chief James Augoye, in his reaction, said that
the state government was investigating abandoned contracts with a view to bringing
erring contractors to book. He said, “Governor Ifeanyi Okowa is very passionate about the development of the state and all abandoned projects would be looked into.”
Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Works has given contractors handling the ongoing Effurun Township Road, Refinery Road, Warri and Eku/ Agbor Road projects a December
25 ultimatum to complete work to avert sanction. The commissioner expressed worry over the substandard equipment and work tools some of the contractors had been using in executing the projects.
Meanwhile, residents of the area have been recounting their ordeal following the inability
of the contractor to complete the road project. One of them, Mrs. Eunice Okeh, said, “We are suffering; the road has been abandoned since 2012 and nobody has said anything about it.”
