MTN Pledges To Complete Enugu- Onitsha Expressway Project
The MTN says it will complete the Enugu - Onitsha Expressway project being constructed under the tax credit scheme by May 10, 2026.
The MTN says it will complete the Enugu - Onitsha Expressway project being constructed under the tax credit scheme by May 10, 2026.
MTN made the pledge during a meeting with representatives of the Federal Ministry of Works, led by the immediate past governor of Ebonyi State and minister of Works, Engineer Dave Umahi.
This was even as Umahi has urged cement manufacturers to slash cement prices to N7,000 per bag.
These were contained in a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the minister on Media, Barr. Orji Uchenna Orji
on Wednesday.
The statement read, "The meeting of the Federal Ministry of Works with MTN and RCC Company Nig Ltd over the slow funding and execution of the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway by MTN under the Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment or Tax Credit Scheme, held at the Ministry's headquarters, Mabushi-Abuja on February 26, 2025 has ended with the following resolutions:
"The construction of Enugu-Onisha dual-carriageway must be completed by 10th May 2026.
"MTN shall be held responsible should the road fail after construction on account of shoddy job by the contractor.
"There will be no variation or VOP on the project and RCC must note that going forward, the operation of VOP in their projects must be in accordance with the procedure contained in the Conditions of Contract and not at the whims and caprices of the contractor.
"MTN (must) not to sacrifice their responsibility of funding the project at the altar of MTN's business profit as this will wittingly or unwittingly inhibit speedy delivery of the project and inpune on the public perception of the will of government to ensure logical completion of the project.
"There must be a commitment in writing between MTN and the Federal Ministry of Works that this offer is predicated on these conditions herein set out. There must be a commitment because the more the job delays, the more there is variation."
Speaking on the occasion, which had in attendance, the Minister of State for Works, Hon. Mohammad Bello Goronyo, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Works, Engr. O.O Adebiyi, the representatives of MTN, the Managing Director of RCC Company Nig Ltd and his team, the Minister of Works, Senator Nweze David Umahi, reiterated that the ministry was unwavering in its commitment towards ensuring that the contractor handling the project, and in this case "the MTN under the Tax Credit Scheme is made to ensure quality and speedy delivery of the project."
Umahi wondered why an official of the MTN insinuated that the directive made by the Federal Ministry of Works that RCC Ltd should stop using materials could derail the quality outcome of the job amounted to a sabotage of the projects of Mr. President in South East.
His words, "We have to put the records straight that this ministry has the responsibility to ensure quality delivery of work by contractors. And the contractor in this case is MTN...
"We went through what MTN was doing. We discovered that they were using peeled sand to do the job. I'm an engineer. I'm not a history graduate. I'm a fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, and I've spent all my life in the field. And we gave a directive, which is in line with the general conditions of contract, that should stop using such sand but go back, and use river sand, which we paid for."
He also, recounted the various inspection visits he made to contractors' project sites and how this had caused them to brace up for ensuring quality and speed in project delivery, just as he emphasized the need for RCC Nig Ltd to play by the rule in project variation.
He described as unacceptable a situation where RCC could do a job of N38 billion and demand for a VOP N14 billion noting that going forward such indulgence by contractors in the name of inflation would not be tolerated.
Unahi then, used the occasion to call on cement manufacturers, which is a key element in the construction industry, especially on the use of Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement, to please reduce the cost of cement to N7,000 as the price of dollar has drastically reduced, the cost of petrol coming down and efforts were being made by Mr. President to fix the road.
According to him "I'm happy that the policies of Mr. President, are working. Today, a dollar is about N1,400. And let me use the opportunity to express dissatisfaction with the cost of cement.Our contractors have called and complained that they wanted to move back to asphalt. We are using this medium to tell the cement manufacturers that at the time, the dollar was almost N2,000, they increased cement from N7,500. Why should cement still sell at N9,500 today that the President has brought dollar to stability to about N1400, and is still going down? We are requesting cement manufacturers to bring down the cost of cement to N7,000. If after one week they don't do that, I have to complain officially to Mr. President."
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