By Muhammad M. ALI

THIS report investigates several road and erosion projects across in Biu communities and how inconsistencies in their execution continues to endanger commuters and members of the community.

With Mallam Musa Ibrahim’s tricycle truck laden with people and their harvested goods, he navigated the dilapidated Mandaragirau bridge. His face, etched with fear, reflected deep-seated anxiety.

His apprehension was not unfounded. The bridge, scarred by Boko Haram attacks in 2014, has claimed many lives. Trucks carrying luggage and desperate passengers, have plunged into the river below. These tragedies could have been averted had a contract awarded for the rehabilitation project on the road been executed.

Despite receiving payment for the job, as confirmed by the Open Treasury Portal, Qexum Wireless Limited has yet to commence work on the site.

In the same vein, in Gora, a community in Shani Local Government Area of Borno State, the poorly executed road project by Abibat Hamali Construction Limited is preventing trucks from accessing the village. This reporter gathered that a committee was purposely set up to monitor and prevent trucks with loads from passing through because the last time trucks used the new road, the damages recorded had not yet been fixed.

Yet, the Federal College of Horticulture Dadin Kowa fabricated a completion report to get Abibat Hamali Construction Limited paid.

Further investigation reveals a disturbing pattern of neglect and mismanagement of public funds. Not only the Mandaragirau bridge and Gora road project, but numerous other road and erosion control projects worth N1,642,997,055, intended to improve Borno’s infrastructure, have been left uncompleted, abandoned, or shoddily executed due to poor supervision by federal government’s Ministries, Departments and Agencies ( MDAs), in contravention of the Public Procurement Act of 2007.

The Mandaragirau Bridge Project and Diversion of Public Funds in 2023, the Federal Ministry of Works contracted Qexum Wireless Limited to repair the Mandaragarau bridge, which was nearly destroyed by Boko Haram insurgents in 2014.

A visit to the project site on October 22, 2024, showed that no work had been done on the bridge.

However, by November 2, 2023, the Federal Ministry of Works had paid Qexum Wireless Limited the sum of N8,976,744.

This reporter submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the office of the Federal Controller of Works in Borno State, requesting the contact information such as name of the contractor, timelines, monies released, among others, but the controller’s office refused to grant this request.

The company’s address with the Corporate Affairs Commission is 197, Bacita Close Area 2 Garki, Abuja, FCT, Abuja. However, on November 28, 2024, when this reporter tried to locate the office, the address only took this reporter to a residential area. There was no sign of a signboard indicating an office at the address. People around the area said they are not aware of an office with that name.

The CAC records also gave the company directors’ names as Ibrahim Maikano and Liya Maikano.

Across social media, Ibrahim Maikano is a popular name. LinkedIn and Facebook, for instance, provided no fewer than a hundred people bearing the name, including  Ibrahim Maikano Gori, a one-time candidate for the State House of Assembly in Bauchi State.

When this reporter reached out to Gori, he admitted to being among the company’s directors but said he was not aware of the bridge rehabilitation contract.

“Yes, I know about it (Qexum Wireless Limited) but I know nothing about this contract,” Gori said through a phone call, promising to make inquiries and get back to this reporter. However, he never did, even after a reminder through a phone call and messages.

What federal controller of works said about the project

In an interview with the Federal Controller of Works, Salisu Adamu, stated that he did not have enough details about executed projects because he was newly deployed. However, he explained that the project file indicated that it was to be implemented in a different location other than Mandaragirau.

“I am newly deployed here. I resumed office just last week, but I saw an envelope containing information that said because the military had closed the Damboa – Biu Road, the former controller had written to the director, saying it was impossible for the project to be implemented in Mandaragirau. He, however, suggested implementing the project on Gadan Hausari (Bridge of Hausari” – along Kano Motor Park – here in Maiduguri. and I saw he got the approval,” Adamu said.

Certainly when this reporter visited the location given by Adamu there was a bridge, and there was also erosion control work on both sides of the bridge, using stone and cement as reinforcement.

According to Saleh Audu, who sells scrap iron around the bridge, the erosion control work was carried out between June and July 2024. Mohammed Gate, a welder who has a shop beside the bridge, pointed to a different erosion control work close to the bridge, which he said was also carried out in the last quarter of 2023. However, this reporter could not confirm whether these were the project Salisu referred to because there was no signboard indicating who had done the job.

Further investigation reveals that Qexum Wireless Limited’s expertise is not road construction or erosion control. As at November 8, 2023, records from the CAC showed that the company’s only expertise was in “business of communications and telecommunications services in all aspects.” Yet, it was awarded the bridge construction contract. The provisions of Section 16 of the Public Procurement Act emphasized that, before being awarded a project, contractors must have the technical competence and legal capacity of bidders in public procurement.

Biu motorists disagree with the claim on road closure

Commercial drivers plying the Mandaragirau bridge have disagreed that insecurity prevented the implementation of the project.

According to the record of the Open Treasury Portal, the project received funding on November 2, 2023. The Ministry of work’s state office claimed that the Damboa-Biu Road was closed by the military in 2023, necessitating the diversion of the project to Maiduguri for similar maintenance.

However, Mamman Adamu Maidala, Chairman of Tashan Gandu, Biu Branch, argued that while the road was closed for some years, it had remained open from 2023 to date.

“This is the business we know best. This motor park has remained resilient in providing transportation services to Mandagirau people and beyond. We know the road was closed for some years, but it has remained open from 2023 to date. I don’t think the level of insecurity in the area would have stopped the repair of the bridge. Besides, the bridge is closer to Biu than Mandaragirau, and there are soldiers along the route.”

The drivers also lamented the level of accidents caused by the dilapidated bridge.

“The last accident on the bridge involved a tricycle truck and a wheel truck. Both, carrying luggage and passengers, plunged into the river below. One person died, while others sustained injuries,” Danjumma Garba, the secretary of Tashan Gandu, added.

Federal Ministry also paid contractor N991 million for substandard Job

Further investigation revealed that this was not the first time the ministry had paid contractors for work not properly done.

In the same year, 2023, the ministry also contracted Vipan Global Investment Resources Limited to fix flooding problems along the Uba-Askira-Mbalala Road in Borno State.

Findings show that the affected areas were located at 27km, 28km, 29km, 59km, and 61km marks from Uba town.

Residents and drivers who guided this reporter to the project sites pointed to a culvert at Yimir Ali village (27 kilometres from Uba town), a road washout at the entrance of Askira (28 kilometres from Uba), Mbalala (59 kilometres from Uba town), and Kadarma village (29 kilometres from Uba town).

A visit to these sites on October 23, 2024 showed that the condition of the road is bad, even though drivers said the contractors had “completed” their work between December 2022 and January 2023. If so, one would wonder about the actual quality of the work done, given how the road still looked during the visit. How fast did a well built road, or even a recently rehabilitated one, gets damaged, one would ask.

This reporter observed that a culvert at Yimir Ali village, which, according to residents, was repaired, still remained in a bad condition. The company’s work on the washouts at the entrance of Askira, Kadarma and Mbalala was destroyed: the concrete drainage works had broken away from the road.

Members of the Uba branch of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), also described the project implementation as a ‘scam’.

“The road is still bad as it was. Nothing changed. The work carried out a few months ago is nowhere to be found. The work did not correct anything,” said Lafiya Lampir, treasurer of the union in Uba, who has been driving for over 30 years.

Records showed that the company has been paid nearly a billion, which is believed to be a payment, or a part of it, for the project. On September 29, 2023, the ministry paid Vipan Global Investment Resources Limited the sum of N991,397,342.44.

This reporter could not speak with the company for comments. Its address on the record of the Corporate Affairs Commission is not very clear. The address listed is “No 54, Mohammed Salim, Apo quarters, Abuja, FCT.” However, Apo Quarters is a large area with different zones. The reporter attempted to locate the office but was unsuccessful.

The company’s directors are Alhaji Yakubu Abubakar, Alhaji Kabiru Magaji, and Yakubu Yakubu Abubakar, who serves as secretary, according to the CAC filing.

Social media searches showed that Alhaji Kabiru Magaji is being used by some people, including the former chairman of Roni Local Government of Jigawa.

However, when this reporter reached out to the former chairman for confirmation, he said he has no relationship with the company.

“We are village people. I don’t know anything about this company. Either I am not the person or my name was used wrongly there,” Magaji said.

What the controller said About the N991 million project

Speaking about the status of the project’s implementation, Adamu, the federal controller of works, said that the project was completed.

“As I told you earlier, based on the records I saw when I came to this office, the project has been completed,” Adamu said, without providing further details including contact information of the contractor in violation of Section 16(15) of the Public Procurement Act, which mandates procuring entities to make procurement records available for public inspection and to keep those records for a minimum of ten years.

Federal College of Horticulture Dadin Kowa claimed project was 100 per cent completed

In 2022, the Federal College of Horticulture Dadin Kowa paid the sum of N311,540,000 to Hafdala Corporate Limited for the construction of a road in Gamadadi, a ward in Bayo Local Government. Similarly, it paid the sum of N199,957,095 to Abibat Hamali Construction Limited for the construction of roads, culverts, and drainage in Gora, a community in Shani Local Government of Borno.

The record of the Open Treasury Portal, which also captured the payments, did not provide a full description of the projects’ technical requirements, including the distance of the roads to be constructed.

To understand the technical requirements, this reporter visited the college on October 21, 2024, with a FOI request letter and requested to inspect the project files. However, Adamu Umar Abubakar, the college’s procurement officer, insisted that the project files were with their works department. He asked the reporter to come back on October 24, 2024, when everything would be ready. Although he kept his promise, the project files he handed over to the reporter lacked essential documents, including the Bill of Quantity.

When the reporter asked for the Bill of Quantity to understand the contract’s specifications such as the distance of the road construction,  Abubakar, claimed that he did not have it. To dismiss the reporter, Abubakar promised to send the remaining documents via WhatsApp, which he never did, even after several follow-up calls.

However, from conversations with Abubakar and contractors, this reporter established that Hafdala Corporate Limited was contracted to construct a kilometre road with culverts and drainage, while Abibat Hamali Construction Company was to construct a kilometre road with culverts and drainage.

Based on this, this reporter visited the locations on October 21, 2024. There was indeed a road project, which was still incomplete. In addition to that, the condition of the completed part is still bad.

However, Federal College of Horticulture Dadin Kowa had already provided monitoring reports that stated the projects were 100 per cent complete. The college, being the supervising agency, is expected to monitor execution of the work, and ensure all specifications are met, before issuing a completion certification. This certificate of completion would then guarantee the completion of the payment of the contractor’s remaining balance.

These reports, prepared by the college, were part of the documents handed over to the reporter by Abubakar. They were signed by one Usman Mohammed, whose office designation wasn’t stated.

The report versus the reality

Abubakar, the procurement officer of the Federal College of Horticulture, Dadin Kowa, stated that Hafdala Corporate Limited was contracted to construct a 1-kilometre road in Gamadadi.

However, measurements using a motorcycle speedometer during the visit showed that about 300 meters of the road constructed was not asphalted.

The people of Maina Baba were also aggrieved that the contractor had left the site, along with equipment, since some six months ago.

“The road stopped around the house of Alhaji Gambo Maina Baba, but initially when they came, we were happy they measured up to my place here. But at the end of the day, that’s where they stopped. They said they would come back, but we don’t know when,” Lawan Umar Abare, the traditional ruler of Maina Baba, lamented.

In his response, Mohammed Sani Abatcha, the site engineer of Hafdala Corporate Limited, disagreed with the community’s claim that he had left the site.

“We did not finish our work. We only took some of our equipment; the other equipment is there under the care of our guard man,”  Abatcha claimed, but in reality, this reporter did not see any equipment during the visit.

The reality also contradicted the college’s second report on the work of Abibat Hamali Construction Limited, who was contracted to construct a 6-kilometre road with culverts and drainage in Gora, a community in Shani Local Government Area of Borno.

The report stated that the project was 100 per cent complete, but a visit to the community showed that only 4.5 kilometres of road had been constructed. Moreover, the road had already developed potholes just some months after construction.

Also, speaking Mohammed Ahmadu, a resident of the Gora community and a diploma graduate in civil engineering who also worked as a labourer during the road construction, disputed the college’s claim that technical requirements for the contract implementation, including the removal of 600 mm of deep topsoil from the site and replacement with compacted laterite, had been achieved, and that the asphalt laid on the road was 150 mm thick.

Ahmadu said he was not sure these requirements were met.

“Our area needs special treatment when it comes to road construction. We have abundant waterlogged areas here, but each time I tried to correct them (the contractors), they would say they were working with project specifications,” Ahmadu said.

“I cannot say the asphalt laid was up to 150 mm thick, nor can I defend the claim that 600 mm of deep topsoil was removed and replaced with compacted laterite. The truth is that many things went wrong, but they would always defend themselves by saying that was the contract specification given to them.”

As a labourer on the project, Ahmadu could not challenge the contractors. The only person who could do that was the District Head of Gora. Yet, he complained that the contractors worked in isolation from the community.

“It was unfortunate that the contractors didn’t even bother to introduce themselves to me before starting the work. As the head of the community, I only saw them constructing the road. The Emir of Shani also made the same complaint to us,” Ibrahim Abdulkareem Gora, the District Head of Gora said, lamenting that after the road construction, the community had to set up a committee that eventually stopped trucks from plying the road because it was poorly constructed.

This reporter tried to speak with engineers to get expert opinion on whether these requirements were achieved in the work. However, most of them were unwilling to speak against the work of their colleagues. One of them who volunteered to speak to this reporter refused to have his name mentioned. According to him, the road suffered from substandard work.

“The thing is, if you construct a road where water is flowing, no matter how good the road is, it may likely spoil or break. But this road, in particular, the way I see it, there is a poor quality of work in terms of compaction. Also, the thickness of the asphalt is not up to standard gauge.’

Speaking based on project requirements, he said, “The 600mm removal of top soil means the top soil will be evacuated, we call it bad soil. It will be replaced with fill materials, and after which 150MM of laterite will be applied to give way for ramming, then asphalt will be applied.” Noting that the asphalt thickness should not be less than 50mm.

How Abibat Hamali Construction subleted Gora project to a company without filings with CAC

Contrary to the public record and the college’s report, the investigation revealed that Abibat Hamali Construction Limited only received funds from the government but were not the ones who implemented the project. They engaged another company, who did not seem to have been registered with the CAC as checks on the site didn’t return any result.

At the project site, the signboard displayed is that of JRC Engineering Construction Limited as the contractor, not Abibat Hamali Construction Limited. As of the morning hours of November 27, 2024, the CAC portal did not return any result when search was made, indicating that no company was registered with that name.

The provisions of Section 16 of the Public Procurement Act, states that a company must be registered under the Companies and Allied Matters Act before it can participate in public procurement.

This reporter obtained the phone number of a representative of the ‘company’ from the community. The representative of JRC Engineering Construction Limited, who identified himself as Engr. Kabir Okene, admitted that the project was sub-contracted to his firm by Abibat Hamali Construction Limited.

Even though the Federal College of Horticulture Dadin Kowa’s report showed that the project was 100 per cent complete, Okene’s accounts were contrary.

“The project was sub-contracted to us. I think what we did was 4.5 kilometres. It remains about 1.5 kilometres,” Okene said.

Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI) on erosion control project in Briyel

The record of the Open Treasury Portal indicated that Hafdala Corporate Limited was paid the sum of N140,102,610 to construct drainage networks for erosion control in Briyel, the headquarters of Bayo Local Government in Borno.

Of the total sum, N10,579,623.60 was released as a 5 per cent retention payment, meaning the final payment for the project. The implication of this is that the agency certified that the project had been completed.

However, on a visit to the project site in Briyel on October 25, 2024 showed that parts of the drainage networks have been destroyed, probably due to poor reinforcement, and people were at risk of losing their houses to expanding gullies.

Aisha Sulaiman, resident of Briyel speaking in her father’s absence, feared that the gullies might consume their house if nothing was done quickly.

“The drainage networks has affected a portion of our house, and now it is collapsing. If this gully expands a little, it will destroy our house,” Aisha said, stressing that if this happened, they would have no choice but to relocate.

“We have done our best to fill up the gullies, but they keep expanding. I think at this juncture, we will need serious intervention from the government,” said Salisu Usman, another resident of Briyel whose house was also threatened by expanding gullies.

Kurbagayi project by Hafdala Corporate Limited under NBRRI

In the same vein, NBRRI paid Hafdala Corporate Limited the sum of N52,317,543.02, as captured by Open Treasury Portal, to construct 650 meters (0.65 km) of road in Kurbagayi, in Kwaya Kusar local government in Borno.

A visit to the project site in Kurbagayi showed that the work was not complete, with residents saying that the company left the site seven months ago.

In Kurbagayi, the company split the 650-meter road into different streets in the village. Most of the streets were either half-asphalted or not asphalted at all.

Residents who spoke to this reporter expressed their frustration with the project execution.

Lawan Ibrahim Kurbagayi, the Traditional Ruler of Kurbagayi, said the contractor told them that he would return to complete the work, but months had passed without him being sited there.

Abdullahi Yunusa, the secretary to the traditional ruler, told this reporter that the incomplete streets included Layin Lawan, Layin Hassan Na Jaye, Layin Mallam Surajo, Layin Audu Kartau, Layin Mallam Hassan Mai Dariyu, and Layin Muhammadu Yamta, and lamented that the contractor had removed all his equipment from the village.

In response to questions about both the erosion project in Briyel and the road construction project in Kurbagayi, Mohammed Sani Abatcha, the site engineer of Hafdala Corporate Limited, said they were working on completing the projects.

“For the erosion project in Briyel, we had finished everything before the rain came and destroyed almost everything. We have started fixing it, and we will finish it,” Abatcha said. “On the Kurbagayi road construction, you must have seen some of the roads were not paved. The work is in progress; we will come back to finish it.”

NBRRI North East Zonal Office keeps mum

In response to questions regarding our findings on the projects, Baba Yarima, the North East Zonal Coordinator of the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute, said he could not speak to the media about the project. This reporter visited the zonal office in Gombe on October 21, 2023.

“I am not authorised to speak to you. I will refer you to our head office in Abuja,” Yarima said, emphasising that the reporter should readdress the FOI request letter to the head office in Abuja.

Infrastructure deficit in Nigeria

According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria currently faces a significant infrastructure deficit.

Infrastructure value amounts to only 30 per cent of its GDP, falling well short of the World Bank’s international benchmark of 70 percent. Nigeria’s population is growing at a rate of over 2.5 per cent annually and is projected to reach 400 million people by 2050, further intensifying the strain on the country’s infrastructure.

Roads projects were awarded to address Nigeria’s infrastructure shortage, as many communities remain disconnected from markets due to poor access roads. As a result, Nigeria continues to lose billions in revenue generation.

Lawmakers respond to discrepancies in project execution

This reporter spoke with Muhammad Ali Ndume, the senator representing the Southern Borno Federal Constituency, about the state of execution of the special intervention projects meant to address flooding along the Uba-Askira-Mbalala Road and Maiduguri-Bama-Pulka-Gwazo Road. Senator Ndume said he was not aware of all the details of the project. He asked this reporter to send over details of the project via WhatsApp for a follow-up.

“I am just hearing about this from you. I know about a road construction project along the route but not this one. Thank you, Muhammad. Send me the details of your findings tomorrow. I will follow it up and get back to you,” Senator Ndume said through a WhatsApp call on November 28, 2024. However, his feedback is still being awaited by the time this report was ready for publication.

Similarly, the reporter reached out to Muktar Aliyu Betara, representing the Biu/Bayo/Kwaya Kusar/Shani Federal Constituency, who facilitated the roads and erosion control projects in Mandaragirau (Biu), Briyel (Bayo), Kurbagayi (Kwaya), and Gora (Shani).

In his response, Betera said he is aware of the uncompleted project, but explained that work stopped when the contractor was not paid.

“The contractors stopped work because money given to them has finished, period. Write to the ministry to give them money,” Hon. Betera said.

Speaking on the erosion control project in Briyel, the lawmaker said the work was executed, but it was rainfall that destroyed some parts.

“Muhammad, it was heavy downpour that affected it,” Betera said through a WhatsApp call, noting that the incident was natural and could happen to any project. However, he explained that the contractor was also waiting for funding to complete the project.

He also said the Mandagirau Bridge Project in Biu Local Government of Borno was not facilitated by him. He said the project could be under the Federal Ministry of Works.

Records from the Open Treasury Portal showed that Hafdala Corporate Limited was paid N87,000,000 for the road construction in the Gamadadi area of Kwaya Kusar.

The contract award letter also said Hafdala Corporate Limited was contracted for the construction of the Gamadadi road at the sum of N311,380,000 (three hundred and eleven million, three hundred and eighty thousand Naira only).

According to the payment vouchers, the sum of N307,000,000 was released. However, after deduction of taxes (VAT 7.5 per cent, WHT 2.5 per cent, and STD 1 per cent), the company was paid N273,230,000.

He was also paid less by N3,957,095 (probably withheld as retention).

The monitoring reports by the supervising agency said they were all 100 per cent completed.

Going by the vouchers and the contract award letter, Hafdala Corporate Limited only has an unpaid balance of N4,000,000 (probably withheld as retention).

On the other hand, the contract award letter of Abibat Hamali Construction Limited for the road construction in Gora (Shani) also said the contract sum was N199,957,095. The money released was N196,000,000. After deduction of taxes (VVAT 7.5 per cent, WHT 2.5 per cent, and STD 1 per cent), the company was paid N174,440,000.

He was also paid less by N3,957,095 (probably withheld as retention).

CSO reacts, as MDAs keep mum

The Head Tracka Project of BudgIT Nigeria, Ayomide Ladipo, stated that her organisation has had similar experiences where projects were not traceable in communities or were poorly executed, and MDAs did not respond to FOI requests. Tracka Project in Nigeria focuses on tracking project implementation and sensitizing communities about government projects for their communities.

“This is because the government thinks people are working for them, not the other way around,” Miss Ladipo said. She added that CSOs and media platforms need to set an example by taking ministries to court for failing to honor FOI requests.

Implications of non-compliance with the Public Procurement Act

The provisions of Section 16 of the Public Procurement Act, mandates open and competitive bidding, transparency, timeliness, equity, accountability, and value for money in all public procurement. Section 16(6) also stipulates that bidders or contractors must possess the necessary qualifications, financial capability, equipment, and personnel to fulfill contract obligations.

However, in the case of these projects, these provisions were not fully adhered to. For instance, the engagement of unregistered companies or those without requisite technical knowhow, contradicts these provisions. The Ministry of Works also awarded a bridge repair contract to companies with no construction knowledge.

Section 58 of the Public Procurement Act imposes penalties, including debarment and fines, for non-compliance with its provisions. Despite these, contractors continue to get away with poor execution, and elsewhere, complete non-implementation of projects.

This investigation is supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and the International Centre for Investigative Reporting( ICIR).