The Administrator of Rivers State Ibok Ete Ibas has expressed strong dissatisfaction with the extent of work at the Port Harcourt Ring Road Project.
Speaking during a courtesy visit by the House of Representatives Ad-Hoc Committee on Emergency Rule Implementation, led by Prof. Julius Ihonvbere, at the Government House, Port Harcourt yesterday, Ibas described the contractor’s performance as “regrettable.”
He said that despite receiving 77% mobilization totalling N150 billion of the N195 billion contract sum, the project remains largely unexecuted.
According to Ibas, worse still, is the fact that the contractor has requested an 87% variation, potentially inflating the total cost to N367 billion.
Ibas issued a stern warning against contractors who fail to honour lawful agreements and terms.
It would be recalled that the Ring Road Project in Rivers State was flagged off by the now suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara in October 2023 with Julius Berger as the contractor. A three-year time frame was agreed upon for the completion of the multi-billion Naira project, which traverses six local government areas of the state.
Work on the Ring Road Project was progressing smoothly until the suspension of democratic structures in Rivers State over political disagreements in March 2025. This subsequently led to the appointment of a sole administrator to govern the state.
Julius Berger, the contracting firm thereafter, requested a variation in the cost of the project, citing the rising costs of materials.
With no assurance from the government that its request for variation would be met, Julius Berger began by downsizing the workforce before finally pulling out from all the sites of the project.
The Ring Road Project is one of the flagship projects of the suspended Governor Fubara’s administration in Rivers State.
