…Project riddled with potholes despite over N1b release
…Resident says work is too slow, poorly constructed
…We will fix failed areas- Contractor
By Aminat Salako – Adekunle
It was a tense argument between Saadatu Abubakar, a passenger, and Issa Hussein, a driver plying the Ilorin-Patigi Road on a Wednesday morning in October, when this reporter arrived at the Maraba Motor Park, in Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State.
Saadatu was adamant that the driver begin the journey since the required passengers for the trip were already seated. However, the driver ignored her as he continued to receive packaged deliveries to earn additional money. As Saadatu made frantic efforts to explain that her haste was because she was expected to return to Ilorin the same day to care for a patient at the General Hospital, Hussein, the driver was unperturbed. He argued that she couldn’t return the same day, as the about 156killometers journey from Ilorin to Patigi, the headquarters of Patigi Local Government Council, which should ordinarily take three hours now takes over nine hours due to the poor state of the road.
The Ilorin – Patigi road is a Federal Government Road and a part of it, covering Share, in Ifelodun LGA to Patigi is a distance of 99 kilometers. It was awarded for construction in 2017 but this reporter observed that the project is yet to be completed, while the completed portions are riddled with potholes.
Residents say the road has become a constant source of frustration with others describing it as a death trap.
“The road has become a death trap and unmotorable. Everywhere is filled with potholes and it damages our cars. If you don’t have something very important to do over there, you dare not set out on that road, that is why many people prefer to send messages,” Issa Hussein, the driver said as he embarked on the trip.
Abubakar Ismaila, a Farmer in Lataworo, Edu LGA of the State could not hide his anger as he narrated how armed robbers and cattle rustlers take advantage of the bad state of the road to attack passersby. He said their community, Lataworo, where the contractor had worked about two years ago was forced to employ the service of professional hunters and vigilantes to man the roads.
This reporter observed that children now fill some portions of the road for a chance to get tokens from motorists who appreciate their efforts.
It was gathered that when the road was captured in the 2017 budget, residents of Kwara North Senatorial District went into jubilation, hoping the road would serve commuters in the area, covering Edu, Baruteen, Kaiama, and Pategi LGAs.
By August 15, 2017, the Federal Government awarded the Share-Patigi Road reconstruction to Dromo International Company Limited at a contract sum of N10,298,833,020 funded in the 2017 and 2018 budgets. The then Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola explained to a Civil Society Organisation, Elite Sustainable Development Network, ENETSUD in May 2019 that the sum of N1,104,000,000 was paid to the contractor in 2017, which was the amount budgeted for that year.
The GovSpend portal, a platform maintained by BudgIT Nigeria to track and analyze federal government spending over time shows that the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing had on September 20, 2018, paid N217,428,571.28 to Dromo International Company Limited. Also, on October 10, 2022, the Ministry paid another N78,995,345 to Dromo International Company Limited. This makes it a total of N1,400,423,916.28.
However, road users such as Issa Hussein condemn the pace of the reconstruction work and describe it as snail speed. Hussain explained that it makes it difficult to navigate the road due to potholes of varying lengths.
Residents condemned “low quality” work
Dromo International Company started reconstruction work on the Share-Pategi Road almost from the middle, after Gbugbu town where an International Market is located. The project began from Gada village-Egwa bridge and stopped just after Kanworo bridge in Edu Local Government Area of Kwara State, while some parts of the road, which have been graded from Kanworo bridge to Lade in Patigi LGA presently under construction under the SUKUK funded projects.
When our reporter visited Gada community on October 25, most of the portions of the road said to have been completed were in bad shape and riddled with potholes.
The village head of Gada, Mallam Abara Mohammed expressed concern that the road had barely lasted two years before it deteriorated, which he said pointed to the use of low-quality materials by the contractor.
“You can see the road now, it is filled with potholes everywhere, the road is bad again, and when the people of Patigi are still expecting the contractor to get the work up to their area, the one done here is already in bad shape. You can see it is terrible,” he said.
The village head urged the government to ensure construction companies provide long-lasting roads. He also decried the slow pace of work and appealed to the government to provide adequate funding for the road reconstruction due to its importance to the agrarian community.
Economic Potential of the Road
The Share-Patigi Road serves the agrarian communities of Tsaragi, Bokungi, Zambufu, Gbugbu, Lataworo, Wodata, Kanworo, Lade, and Patigi which are predominantly farmers. The communities farm rice, groundnut, melon, millet, cowpeas, sorghum, cassava and are known for fish farming with many of their buyers from within and outside Nigeria.
The head of Gbugbu community, Aliu Jibril who spoke through the Secretary of the community, Mallam Yusuf Alhassan Ndaba said the Share-Pategi Road was constructed during the Shehu Shagari administration in 1979 and after it deteriorated, it was left to patching by successful governments.
Jibril said the journey from Share to Gbugbu, where an International Market is situated used to be 45 minutes but the journey now takes three hours due to the deplorable condition of the road. He expressed worry that despite the market, which has traders from as far as Benin Republic, Ghana, and Cameroon, the road leading to the bulky commercial center is a death trap. “This is a commercial center, where grains are sold in very large quantities. But if you look at the road, on your way from Share to Gbugbu, the road is old and has been washed off. Motorists even abandon the main asphalted portion and navigate by the sideway,” he said.
The Secretary of Gbugbu community, Yusuf Ndaba and some traders argued that despite paying taxes, the road had been abandoned.
The community secretary added that most of the youths in the area have abandoned farming and migrated to the state capital, for other ventures due to infrastructural deficit.
On his part, the Head of Gbugbu, Alhaji Aliu Jibril said there have been lost opportunities due to the poor state of the road. He said some investors from Lagos recently visited him to establish a Shea-nut factory in Gbugbu to supply to their agents in Liberia. He however said they were skeptical due to the deplorable state of the road.
He said should such a factory be located in Gbugbu, it will not only create employment opportunities but solve the challenges of insecurity.
“If the youth are properly engaged, it will solve the cattle rustling problem we are facing. Just last week some farmers and traders were attacked on their way home. We’ve had to employ the service of vigilantes and hunters to man the black spots.” he said.
But this is not all, Khadijat Idris, a teacher in Zambufu community in Edu LGA, a community before Gbugbu said: “Just last week, the road claimed some lives along Ilorin – Zambufu road. The people were going to Patigi. Some of these half–canter trucks, you see people on top when they have loaded the vehicle with goods, people climbed on top of the goods, due to the bad nature of the road, the truck somersaulted, and many died.”
CSO condemns “poorly constructed road”
A Civil Society Organisation on the vanguard of transparency and accountability in governance, Elite Network for Sustainable Development ENETSUD, said it made a request to the executing agency for the contract documents in 2019.
The Deputy Coordinator, of the group, Comrade Lanre Osho also said they had mobilized an Engineer to the site to evaluate the work and determine if it was commensurate with the money released.
He said it was discovered that Dromo International Company had done a shabby job on the road as it was already filled with potholes while the contractor was still on site.
Following that, he said the CSO had petitioned the then Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing under, Babatunde Fashola.
Osho said the ministry had replied by giving the CSO details of the money that had been paid to the contractor.
“It shows that from the N10.2 billion contract sum, N1.1 billion was released to Dromo International Company Limited in 2017, while N968 Million was released in 2018 and N448 Million in 2019.”
“If you look at the importance of the road with the economic activities in the area, it will add value to people of the state if the road is constructed. But in a situation whereby the road is filled with potholes everywhere, when the contractor is still on-site, where is the value for money? And how will it add value to the lives of people in that area? As of then, when we petitioned, he went back to address the problem. So, the people need to hold the government accountable” he said.
He advised the Federal Government to ensure it releases meaningful money for road construction to ensure the road is completed within a reasonable period.
Ministry Reacts
In a bid to get the contract documents and contract sum to provide answers to how much was released to the contractor, including the duration for completion of the work, the Federal Ministry of Works did not respond to the Freedom of Information request sent by our reporter on 30th of October 2023 despite the expiration of the seven days required by the FOI.
However, the Engineer supervising the road reconstruction from the Federal Ministry of Works in Ilorin, Kwara State, Engineer Idowu Fabamise confirmed that the work was awarded in 2017 at a contract sum of N10 billion. He however said the project has some technical issues and blamed the community’s impatient in rushing the project award.
“Let me tell you something, although the Emir is late now and some prominent people in Patigi they are aware of the issue even the State government is aware. You know I told you that at the onset of the project, some technical fundamental issues were not put into consideration because the people wanted that road to be constructed. So they just used their political weight then, to get the work awarded, thinking if it is awarded the other issues won’t be a problem, but fund continues to be a challenge,” he said.
When asked, what the technical issues were, the engineer declined further comments. He insisted on getting approval from the Managing Director of Dromo International Company Limited, David Omoya before releasing his contact. But by November 10, 2023, when this reporter called for additional details, he said there was no need for this investigation as the contractor was already back on site to do the job under the SUKUK arrangement. However, a visit to the road again showed that the potholes were still visible while the contractor continued with the reconstruction work.
Construction company speaks
When this reporter visited the construction site again on November 24, an Engineer with Dromo International Company Limited, who gave his name as Odemita admitted that there were failed portions on the road which he attributed to a binder layer just being layered on the road.
According to CivilWorld, an online platform that explains terminology in civil engineering, wearing surface, also known as wearing course, is multiple layers of pavement structure which is the topmost portion of the road on which vehicle moves. It is made by the combination of Asphalt/Bitumen and aggregates.
Engineer Odemita said the road construction was still in progress, as its wearing surface, which is the final layer is yet to be layered.
He said the failed portion would be fixed as the work progresses, though he wouldn’t give a specific date.
“They don’t expect us to finish the work in one day. Is the road not worse than that when we came? That Gada village I know how we met it, so we are still working, and anything can happen on the road now, by the time we are putting wearing course on it, the failed portion will be repaired,” he said.
According to Section 16 of the Public Procurement Act 2007, the fundamental principles for procurement should be conducted to achieve value for money and fitness for purpose. The road reconstruction project however failed to do this despite the release of over N1,400,423,916.28 by the federal government.
The section states that: “Subject to any exemption allowed by this Act, all public procurement shall be conducted: in a manner which is transparent, timely, equitable for ensuring accountability and conformity with this Act and regulations deriving therefrom; to achieve value for money and fitness for purpose.”
Meanwhile, section 58, sub-section 5, of the Act stipulates that any aberration to the act by either an officer of the Bureau or by contractor attracts imprisonment of not less than 5 calendar years, without any option of fine and dismissal from government services.
It states that “Any person who while carrying out his duties as an officer of the Bureau, or any procuring entity who contravenes any provision of this Act commits an offense and is liable on conviction to a cumulative punishment of (a) a term of imprisonment of not less than 5 calendar years without any option of fine; and (b) summary dismissal from government services”.
Company Inactive, No Website & Social Media Account
A search of the company on the Corporate Affairs Commission portal on November 2, 2023, revealed that the company, which is inactive at the moment, was registered on April 29, 1992, and has Omoya Olaosebikan Omotosho as Persons with Significant Control, while Omoya David Folorunsho is the Managing Director.
This means that the company had not updated its data when Radio Nigeria checked, thereby failing to comply with sections 417 to 424 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) Act, 2020.
According to the Corporate Affairs Commission, inactive companies are legal entities that have failed to comply with sections 417 – 424 of the Companies and Allied Matters Act, 2020 in filing their annual returns with the commission. Section 417 of the CAMA Act 2020 states that every company must make and deliver its annual returns to the CAC every year to be eligible for contracts.
While Dromo International Company Limited is inactive on the CAC portal, it has no working website or social media pages.
Residents call for quality jobs and the completion of the road
Residents are therefore calling on the federal and state governments to alleviate their sufferings and press on the contractor to ensure he does a quality job. They also want the government to reconsider the choice of the construction saying its actions lead to a waste of taxpayer’s money.
This story is published under BudgIT’s 2023 GovSpend Media Fellowship, with support from ICIR and MacArthur Foundation.
1 Comment