Less than a year after dismissing Mothercat Nigeria Limited for non-performance on a project, the Federal Government has awarded the same company a new N198 billion contract to construct a major road linking Kaduna and Katsina states.

The award was announced by the Minister of Works, David Umahi, following the latest Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting.

According to Umahi, the contract covers the construction of the Zaria-Ukui-Kolomani-Dan Bali-Maraba-Kanya-Subawa-Kasa Road, with a completion timeline of 36 months.

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Under Section 16 of the Public Procurement Act, any contractor that has demonstrated negligence or poor performance on public projects within the preceding three years is disqualified from receiving new government contracts unless the project qualifies as a national security or emergency procurement.

In February 2024, the same administration revoked Mothercat’s contract, along with those of Dantata & Sawoe and RCC, over failure to deliver on the Obajana-Benin road dualisation project.

The Punch reported that the projects were valued at over N800 billion. That project, originally awarded in 2012, had suffered prolonged delays and ultimately expired without completion.

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At the time, Umahi openly criticised the companies for what he described as “inordinate delay” and a lack of “genuine commitment or good faith” in executing the work, actions that severely disrupted the lives of road users and brought major sections of the expressway to a standstill.

Despite these warnings and the high-profile contract revocations, Mothercat has now been reinstated for another multibillion-naira project.

The move appears to contradict the Tinubu administration’s repeated assurances of efficiency, transparency and accountability under its Renewed Hope Agenda.