Nigeria’s Ministry of Works, under the Highway Development and Management Initiative (HDMI), has unveiled a set of new parameters aimed at elevating the standards of road infrastructure projects across the country.
This initiative, operating on a public-private partnership model, was discussed extensively during a meeting involving the Ministry’s public-private partnership unit and Messrs Africa Plus Partners Nigeria Ltd. (APPNL) concessionaires. Senator David Umahi, the Minister of Works, spearheaded the introduction of these updated guidelines, emphasising their pivotal role in ensuring superior project delivery.
Senator Umahi elucidated that these guidelines would undergo meticulous refinement, consensus-building, and adoption in all contractual dealings between the Federal Government and concessionaires henceforth. He stated that the key parameters would include:
“The design of the project is to be in line with the specification of the Federal Ministry of Works, and investors can only improve upon the design made by the Ministry.
“A reasonable construction period must be agreed upon. There shall be no variation on the project.
“100% of one carriageway must be completed before tolling by concessionaires. The business plan must be in line with socio-economic dynamics.
“Terms of tolling of road projects must be by the laws of the Federation, and standard contract conditions must be followed.
“Contingency and variation on Price (VOP) shall be utilised only by the express and written permission of the client. The Bill of Quantities shall be verified and adopted in line with the prevailing market prices.
“Road count on traffic shall be carried out by the investor, and where such data has been provided by the client, it is the duty of the investor to accept or verify, and where the investor accepts, it shall be binding on all.
“It shall be the duty of the investor to sensitise the public to the toll programme in every project.
“The client shall have the right to terminate the job of the investor for failure to comply with the time of road project completion.
“Every road construction for highways must be by the highway standard prescribed by the Laws of the Federation,” he said.
Both the team leader of APPNL and the head of the PPP unit of the Federal Ministry of Works reiterated their dedication to delivering high-quality roads to Nigeria. They expressed gratitude to the Minister for acknowledging the necessity of project review amidst the evolving economic landscape of the country.
