The Federal Government has revoked 68 kilometres of the 105-kilometre Gusau-Talata Mafara road project awarded to a private firm over the slow pace of work, despite commending the quality of construction delivered so far.

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The Minister of State for Works, Bello Goronyo, announced the revocation on Sunday while inspecting the ongoing dualisation of the Sokoto-Gusau-Funtua-Zaria highway.

The Gusau-Sokoto highway project, covering kilometres zero to 105 from Gusau to Talata Mafara, was awarded to Triacta Nigeria Limited by the Federal Government in May 2023 for the construction of a dual carriageway.

Although the company commenced work from Talata Mafara Local Government Area and recorded some level of progress, worsening insecurity in the area forced the contractor to relocate operations to the Gusau-Bungudu axis, where construction is currently ongoing.

Inspecting the project on the directive of President Bola Tinubu, the Minister of State for Works, Bello Goronyo, commended the quality of work executed by Triacta but expressed dissatisfaction with the slow pace of construction, leading to the revocation of 68 kilometres of the contract.

“We are at the second contractor, Triacta, which started from kilometre 105, and as I said, we are on kilometre six now. You can see them on site, but we have noticed that how they were working is not very impressive; they have only 16 per cent completion.

“The contract was awarded almost together with that of Sokoto to Talata-Mafara, which was in May 2023, and we are hoping that they should have made appreciable progress on this road. This is a very important corridor,” Goronyo said.

“So we decided to restrict them to kilometer 37 to kilometer zero in Gusau, so that they concentrate on the dual Carriage Way, the two sections left and right to complete them before November this year, so that the remaining two phases, the Phase One and Two in kilometer 37 to kilometer 105, we will look for a reputable contractor that will come and deliver that project within the record time,” he added.

According to him, the Federal Government is determined to ensure that the affected section of the project is completed by November this year to improve visibility, enhance road safety, strengthen security, and boost economic activities along the corridor.

Responding, a representative of Triacta Nigeria Limited attributed the slow pace of work to persistent insecurity, describing it as one of the major challenges affecting the project.

“You know we have started in Mafara, just 60 kilometres from here, and we have done quite a substantial job. We did 11 kilometres almost in Mafara and a very timely record, and then unfortunately, we were dislodged from that place due to security challenges that are known to everyone.

“So it is not easy to build a camp there. If you have seen it with all the heavy equipment we put there, the asphalt plant and other plants, we started working on the bridges there, and then suddenly, we had to relocate to a new place where we had nothing,” Furry said.

“So we had to build a new place again, definitely in the meantime, the work did not pick up on time. So, we cannot say that we resumed at the beginning with full power.

“Now we have the full power again, but we are not comfortable. Yes, there is a challenge here, security, mainly,” he added.

Meanwhile, the minister proceeded to other sections of the project between Gusau and Sheme-Funtua, being handled by Setraco, where he commended both the pace and quality of work.

This inspection is the second within one week by officials of the Federal Ministry of Works, highlighting the importance of the project to the economic development of the North-Western region.