The Federal Government has given the contractor handling the Mararaba–Keffi Expressway project a deadline of February 28, 2026, to complete and hand over the road even as it removed the Controller of Works overseeing the project.
The Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, announced the sanctions during an inspection of the ongoing expansion of the 43-kilometre Mararaba–Keffi corridor on Friday, January 9,2026.
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 the supervision of the project.
The minister said that supervising officials have the authority to deny certificates and escalate any contractor’s non-compliance.
He added that the sanctions imposed would stand unless reversed by the president.
He directed China Harbour Engineering Company, the project contractor, to submit a detailed work timetable and a written commitment confirming its readiness to meet the February deadline.
Umahi 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 of hand-moulded caps along the road and instructed that the concreting of the median should commence without delay.
The minister also 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,January 14,2026,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 the contractors and ministry officials must discharge their duties diligently in the interest of Nigerians.
