By SUNDAY ABBA, Abuja
Nigeria’s Minister of Works Nweze David Umahi has removed the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Controller of Works overseeing the Mararaba–Keffi Expressway project and issued February 28, 2026 deadline for the completion of the ongoing expansion of the 43-Kilometre corridor in Nasarawa State
The Minister gave the directives during an inspection to ascertain the progress of work on the project on Friday.
The Minister accused the removed Controller of Works of issuing fraudulent certificates that led to payments for incomplete or unexecuted jobs, including earlier palliative works.
He directed the Permanent Secretary of the ministry to redeploy the officer immediately and assign a new Controller to take over supervision of the project.
The minister said that supervising officials have the authority to deny certificates and escalate any contractor’s non-compliance.
Umahi directed the contractor handling the project, to submit a detailed work timetable and a written commitment confirming its readiness to meet the February deadline.
He expressed dissatisfaction with the pace of work and attributed the delays to both the contractor and supervisory lapses within the Ministry of Works.
He ordered the immediate removal hand-moulded caps along the road, immediate commencement of concretising of the median, and directed the installation of solar-powered streetlights along the entire stretch.
“I am giving you the end of February to hand over this job. You must come to my office on Wednesday with your timetable and a commitment to complete the project by then,” the minister said.
He noted that repeated inspection visits had yielded little improvement.
Umahi warned that indiscipline, negligence and failure to enforce directives would no longer be tolerated in the ministry.
During the inspection, the minister also assessed progress at key points along the corridor, including the Keffi flyover, where he reiterated that both contractors and ministry officials must discharge their duties diligently in the interest of Nigerians.