…Gives 14day notice of termination
The Federal Government has chastised the China Civil Engineering Construction Company Limited (CCECC Ltd), over the poor construction methodology it deployed on the rehabilitation works on the Aba bound of the Rehabilitation of Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway, contract No. 6252.
The Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, who gave the warning while on a routine supervision of ongoing road projects within the South South and South East on Sunday, October 19, 2025, expressed displeasure over what he described as “the recalcitrance of the contractor” in complying with the new construction codes and regulations which are aimed at building enduring road infrastructure for the nation.
Umahi, who gave the warning on behalf of the federal government during an inspection visit, decried the state of the 43-km Aba-Port Harcourt inherited ongoing project being handled by CCECC, which he noted was on the verge of total collapse.
The Minister therefore directed that a 14-day notice of termination be issued to the contractor, having regard to the various warning letters issued to it over poor construction performance.
Umahi also directed that the Port Harcourt bound of the project be descoped and re-awarded to a competent contractor, saying; “If you get to Port Harcourt end, which they did about two years or thereabout, the entire road has almost totally failed”.
He further said; “We have been writing them to maintain this road. They have refused, and so I have to take responsibility and take decision. Number one, the Port Harcourt bound is descoped, no longer going to be done by CCECC.
“I will direct the Ministry of Works to scout for very qualified indigenous contractors to handle the Port Harcourt bound. They should be the contractor that will start work immediately while we sort out for funds for them.
“For the site handled by CCECC, they should issue them 14 days notice of termination of the job. And I want this directive to go very wide. After 14 days, they fail to mill out the binder and replace it properly, the job will be terminated; they have to initiate it; they have to commit to doing that.
“Even if they are going to do it during the dry season, they have to maintain the ones that they have done and they put in writing that they’re going to mill out the binder at their own cost, and then be able to put a new binder, which we have paid for,” the Minister directed.
A statement by Orji Uchenna Orji, Special Adviser on Media to the Minister of Works, stated that Umahi insisted that putting binder for a stretch of the project without putting wearing is unacceptable.
