Umahi Halts Ibadan-Ife-Ilesa Road Project, Orders Withdrawal of N2.8bn Palliative Certificate

Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, has ordered the temporary suspension of reconstruction work on the Ibadan-Ife-Ilesa highway being handled by CBC Global Civil and Building Construction, directing the contractor to review critical pavement mixture specifications before returning to the site.

The directive was issued on Sunday during an inspection tour of the Osun State section of the ongoing road project.

Umahi, who inspected the project alongside federal lawmakers and other stakeholders, instructed the contractor to study the pavement mixture being used on another project and apply the lessons before resuming work.

“Go and check that mixture and then resume your work,” the minister told the contractor.

He further directed CBC Global to slow work on the carriageway and immediately deploy two separate teams to focus on the construction of the inner and outer shoulders of the road.

According to him, completion of the shoulders is critical to the overall integrity of the project.

The minister also turned his attention to the Federal Ministry of Works supervision of the project, expressing dissatisfaction over the issuance of a palliative works certificate valued at N2.8 billion.

Umahi said he had not observed evidence of the palliative work during the inspection despite the certification already issued by the Federal Controller of Works in Osun State.

“I am on this road and I have not seen where the palliative was done, but you already gave a palliative certificate of N2.8 billion,” he said.

The minister consequently directed the controller to withdraw the certificate within 24 hours and instructed the contractor to return and carry out the palliative works properly.

“I don’t want to see any pothole, and the agreement is that you will mill all the failed sections and the cracked sections,” Umahi stated.

He stressed that the contractor must also apply a binder on affected portions of the road to strengthen the pavement structure.

The minister warned that project supervision would be strengthened and disclosed that several controllers of works had already been removed from project sites across the country over performance concerns.

“I have removed a number of controllers in some states, starting with my own state,” he said.

“I am going to create a classroom in my ministry and bring professionals into it. Those I am removing from sites will be learning every day. When you pass, we deploy you back to the site.”

Umahi also directed the immediate removal of heavy-duty trucks parked on newly constructed concrete sections of the road, warning that prolonged parking could weaken the pavement through internal stress.

“I am giving you 24 hours to clear them and never let it happen again,” he said.

“The moment you have those things parked, it generates internal stress on the concrete. You will not see it immediately, but that is the failure of the concrete.”

The minister added that installation of solar-powered streetlights would commence after the completion of the road shoulders.

Despite his criticism of aspects of the project, Umahi commended CBC Global for maintaining progress despite delays in payment.

“We have not paid them. They are working on 108 kilometres. They have completed about 70 kilometres and they are doing about one kilometre per day,” he said.

The Ibadan-Ife-Ilesa highway is one of the strategic federal road projects under the Federal Government’s infrastructure renewal programme aimed at improving connectivity across the South-West region.