The Lafia-Shendam Road is owned by the Federal Government and currently in a bad shape which is impacting negatively on commuters who ply the road.
In the last two years, Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) has awarded and paid the sum of Three Hundred and Sixty-Seven Million Naira to four different contractors for general maintenance.
Despite this intervention there seems to be no improvement on a large portion of the road and this has triggered TVC News Correspondent to unravel the mystery behind this.
This long stretch of road links Lafia the capital of Nasarawa State to Shendam , a local government in Plateau state.
Commuters plying this road have since come to terms with the reality of grappling with potholes as they journey and this is not a pleasant experience.
We embarked on a trip along the road to experience first hand the plight of commuters.
There appears to be no sign of maintenance on the road in recent years.
Some prominent villages along the road are Barking Rijiya, Adogi, Gidan Akuya, Kurugiwe among others.
Allu Kashimu is a septuagenarian who resides in Adogi , a community along the road.
He recounts how the bad nature of the road has resulted in series of accidents and armed robbery attacks.
This has resulted in the loss of several lives and properties.
Statistics from the Open Treasury Platform and BudgIT reveals that, in March 2023 the Federal Government through its Road Maintenance Agency(FERMA) paid the sum of 78 million naira to Classic Marvel Nigeria Limited for general maintenance repairs.
In August 2022, the sum of 122 million naira was paid by FERMA to Quantum Mechanics Limited for rehabilitation of the road.
In the months of June and October 2021 a total sum of 134 million naira was paid by FERMA to Mainstream Contractors Nigeria for the emergency repairs of the road and in July the same year the sum of 32 million naira was paid to Sahar Continental Limited for maintenance.
Our journey continued another day but this time our destination is the nation’s capital, Abuja on a fact finding mission.
We arrived at the office of FERMA and after series of bottle necks, we gained access to meet with officials of the agency.
The agency claims to have carried out maintenance work on the road despite glaring evidence of potholes.
It insists that the contractors wouldn’t have been paid and certificates issued if the job was not done.
Classic Marvel Nigeria Limited, one of the contractors and a 22 year old firm had indicated at registration that its office address is located at number 20 Lagos street without any telephone contact.
Our visit to the famous Lagos street in Abuja revealed that this office address does not exist.
Now the questions begging for answers are, was the contract awarded to a faceless firm and could this be the case with other contractors?
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