The Federal Minister of Works, David Umahi has revealed that the current administration inherited huge debts arising from unpaid certificates of road projects to the tune of N1.5 trillion.
This is contained in a press statement issued by the Ministry of Works on Saturday and can be seen on the official website of the ministry.
The minister made this revelation as he and the directors in the Ministry of Works met in preparation for the budget defence with the Joint Committees of National Assembly slated for Monday, 11th December 2023.
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Umahi revealed that to tackle the debt inherited from the past administration on ongoing road projects nationwide, he set up six committees of one committee per geopolitical zone to review all debts of unpaid certified certificates generated before May 29th, 2023, and from May 29th 2023 to date.
The minister said that the committees will also review the approved and unapproved variation of prices and all augmentations that were approved or are yet to be approved and make recommendations to the Ministry’s management.
Furthermore, Umahi revealed that President Tinubu’s economic team and the Federal Executive Committee on road sector funding are aware of these debts and all reviews in the Ministry.
According to him, the internal works through these six constituted committees will help them to use external Consultants to reverify the works so that concrete decisions will be made to move the Ministry forward.
Also, Umahi disclosed that contractors who are being owed are requested to approach these committees with all documents to back up their claims from Tuesday 12th 2023 to Friday, 22nd of December 2023 from 9 am to 7 pm at the Honourable Minister’s Conference Room, on the first floor of the Federal Ministry of Works, Headquarters, Mabushi Abuja.
