PH Ring Road Project: Bold, No Transparency

The new Rivers State administration took a bold step during the week when it signed a N195.3 billion contract with infrastructure giants, Julius Berger Nigeria PLC, for the construction of the 50.15 kilometres Port Harcourt Ring Road. It is the biggest single contract ever awarded by the state or any that state government at all in Nigeria.
The project, which the commissioner for Works, George-Kelly Alabo, described as a legacy and signature project of the Siminalayi Fubara government will be delivered in 36 months and will pass through five local government areas that are in close proximity with Port Harcourt, the state capital.
The project includes the construction of 45 kilometres of dual-carriage ways, six flyovers and one river crossing bridge of 350 metres. Alabo said during its execution, the project will provide thousands of direct and indirect jobs for citizens and residents of the state; and on completion, will ease traffic flow and reduce travel time around the capital city of Port Harcourt. It will also open up virgin lands along its path for development.
The commissioner pointed out that key economic, industrial and maritime infrastructure in Port Harcourt and the Onne/Eleme cluster including, the ports complexes and the refineries, will benefit from the proposed road as it will make evacuation and transportation of goods and personnel from the areas flexible and seamless. He said the new road will make Port Harcourt and indeed, the rest of the state, further attractive to investors.
To show that it is serious about the project, the state government has already paid 75 percent of the total cost of the project to the contractor. This, Alabo said, was to prevent the project from being derailed because of funding and cost variation issues, which paralyse many public projects in the country.
Given recent performance of contracts between Rivers State and Julius Berger PLC., there is no doubt that the Ring Road project would be delivered promptly. As enumerated by the commissioner for Works, the benefits of the Ring Road to Port Harcourt, its residents and the businesses in the city are enormous and it is therefore a commendable project. The new government in Port Harcourt too has to be commended for taking the bold step to execute the project, which the commissioner said had been ignored for many years by previous governments.
Port Harcourt Ring undoubtedly would be a delight to the people and businesses in Rivers State when it eventually comes on stream. However, lack of transparency in the procurement processes of the contract, just like it was with the immediate-past government, calls for concern. In a democratic system that is governed by law and the Constitution, the procurement procedure of the magnitude of the Ring Road project ought to comply with the requirements of law.
The procurement process was not advertised or thrown open for competitive bidding; the environmental impact assessment of the project was not publicized for scrutiny by people and communities that could be affected by the displacement of settlements and natural environment, heavy deployment of machines and earth movement by the project and public hearing for the bill that appropriated funds for the project.
Such lack of openness and accountability is undemocratic and unconstitutional. It is capable of derailing a well intentioned project with the attendant adverse consequences to the people and the funds already spent on it. Apart from the legal consequences of such executive lawlessness, the project lost valuable input that would have benefited it had the procurement process been democratised.
It is imperative to caution the new government in Rivers State to avoid the pitfalls of the previous administration that became notorious for lack of financial transparency, indiscretion and executive arrogance. The people deserve the right to know how and on what their funds are spent in the face of other competing needs of the state.
– Kote Obe-Eleme, a journalist, can be reached at koteobeeleme@gmail.com