Wike Blasts FCDA over Alarming Variations in Contracts

Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

The FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, has excoriated officials of Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) for allowing variation in contracts leading to unnecessary delay in their completion.

He expressed his anger yesterday, after inspecting on-going repair works at the Lower Usuma Dam water treatment plant in Ushafa, Bwari Area Council.
He described as embarrassing that many contracts awarded several years ago remained completed even after the contracts had been reviewed.
“It is quite unfortunate that while we went to the Gurara road, it is very embarrassing, and this is not what they are going to take. The job was awarded in 2017 at the cost of N20 billion, in 2020 the contract sum was revised to N50 billion.

“As I speak to you, we have paid almost N50 billion, what is outstanding from what the man in charge has said is N900 million, and now the N900 million will not be enough to complete the job that they have done about 90 percent and thereby we move to another variation. This is what we are not going to accept.
 “Even the engineering service, we are going to overhaul the entire system. I have never seen a thing like this before in my life. What you see in FCDA contract variation from N10 billion to N120 billion, from N50 billion to N200 billion. It is alarming and I am not going to accept it,” Wike said.

He also expressed displeasure that the contract for Usuma Dam, was awarded as an emergency contract only for him to be informed that it had not been awarded fully but just a mere letter of intent to the contractor since August last year.
“We know the importance of this, because it supplies water to our people in the city and this environment.
“Water is very important, so I have directed that it is not an emergency again, if something has happened since last year, you call it an emergency till now, it is no longer an emergency.

“If at all it was an emergency, we are going to start all over, and we are going to supervise the procurement process and we will allow other companies to bid as far as this project is concerned. So, it is alarming.”

The minister said the administration had introduced an Irrevocable Standing Payment Order (ISPO) to bind projects to FCT internally generated revenue to enable them at the end of every month know which company to be paid and the duration of the contract.
Wike said IGR will be tied to specific projects to minimise cases of uncompleted projects in the FCT.