The Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP) in Akwa Ibom State has warned contractors handling its projects across the state against negligence or abandonment of work.
The agency stated that it would not hesitate to revoke the contract of any contractor found wanting.
The State Project Coordinator of RAAMP, Pastor Gideon Akpan, gave the warning during an unscheduled technical evaluation of project sites in Nsit Ibom Local Government Area over the weekend.
Akpan, who was represented during the inspection by the Lead Infrastructure Engineer, Ekong Joseph Inyang, said the agency would not tolerate unnecessary delays in project execution, especially as contractors had been fully mobilized and paid for their jobs.
Inyang expressed dissatisfaction over the absence of contractors handling the 8.396km Ikot Ekan–Ediene Abak Road, Ikot Isong–Edeobom II Road (3.31km), and the Ikot Itina–Oniong Road with a spur to Nsemeke Ikpe Market (2.044km) when the inspection team visited the sites. He regretted that a significant percentage of the work remained incomplete.
He stressed that the agency would take decisive action against the contractors if they failed to return to site immediately and warned other contractors against abandoning their projects. He added that the excuse by some contractors that they were overwhelmed with multiple projects would not be accepted, noting that contractors should have sufficient equipment and manpower to handle more than one project simultaneously.
In his words:
“Any contractor handling more than one job must do so simultaneously and not one after the other. We have seen what is going on, and it is quite unfortunate because this project should be nearing completion stage. Instead, a good percentage of it is still undone, and it does not speak well of the contractor.
“We have also seen the efforts the consultant has made, but the contractor is not forthcoming. Money is not a problem. We will go back and consider the possibility of terminating the contract. This will serve as a warning to other contractors who may want to follow the same path, because such attitude is not tolerated in RAAMP.”
Earlier, the consultant to the project and representative of Yaroson Partnership, Engr. Kelvin Ndukwu, also lamented the contractor’s absence at the project site. He noted that the contractors should have taken advantage of the current sunny weather to accelerate work on the project.
He further revealed that all payments due to the contractor had been made, expressing surprise at their continued absence from the site. He added that such behaviour would not be tolerated.
According to him:
“We are not happy with the pace of work because we expected the contractor to make good use of the weather. It is unfortunate that they are not here. We have written to them several times and invited them for meetings, expecting them to return to site now that the weather is favourable.
“If they were here, we would have heard directly from them. We are not owing them, so if they cannot complete the job, we will terminate the contract and give it to another contractor who can finish the work.”
However, the team commended African Plus Nigeria Limited for its work on the 3.3km Ukam Ikot Obio Okoi Ikot Abia Road in Mkpat Enin Local Government Area. The Project Manager, Engr. Sunday Thomas Akpan, stated that with over 95 percent of earthworks completed, the company would soon mobilize for stone base and asphalt laying in order to meet its April 2026 completion target.
Other projects inspected during the visit had already been completed.
