Rivers State Ring-Road Project Breaks World Record

Rivers State Ring-Road project set to break world record as the most expensive road in history,  costing over N198 billion. The NEFGAD group has urged Gov Fubara to present this contract to the Guinness Book of World Records.

The Network for the Actualization of Social Good and Viable Development (NEFGAD) group criticised the state of excessive contract costs, claiming that recent contracts were little more than a bazaar.

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The Rivers State Government should approach the Guinness Book of World Records for certification of its 50.15-kilometer Port Harcourt Ring Road Contract, which was awarded at a cost of N195.3 billion, making it the most expensive road in the world at approximately N4 billion per kilometre.

According to the report, the Rivers State Government recently granted the world’s most costly contract in the history of public procurement in Nigeria and around the world.

River state governor, Siminalayi Fubara, was reported in a statement released over the weekend in Abuja by the Group’s Executive Secretary, Mr Akingunola Omoniyi, as having tweeted a video on July 11 in which he announced that the Port Harcourt ring road project had been granted at a cost of N197.3 billion.

In response to the governor’s disclosure, NEFGAD stated, ”the 50.15-kilometer Port Harcourt Ring Road Contract awarded at a cost of N197.3 billion, standing at approximately N4 billion per kilometre, demonstrates that the Rivers state government is insensitive to the economic plight of the people and engaging in a show of shame by coming to the public to display the world most flamboyant and luxurious project.

“The Anti-Corruption Group has observed with dismay that the cost of road construction in Nigeria has been consistently outrageous, which now calls for serious concern and scrutiny,” the statement continued.

According to a World Bank analysis, the cost of constructing 1km of road anywhere in the world, regardless of geographic variances, is less than half a billion Naira.

This figure is the benchmark that should not be exceeded regardless of various conditions, with the exception of entrenched interests, which are common in governmental contracts in Nigeria.

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“The only thing missing from the contract is the Rivers state government’s application to the Guinness World Record (GWR) for verification and certification as the world’s most expensive contract.”

“This is barbaric, outrageous, and questionable, and it will not be tolerated, Mr Akingunola stated.