Minister of Works David Umahi has ordered the arrest of the Managing Director of Hartland Civil Engineering Construction following the company’s failure to complete an 11-kilometre section of the Benin–Onitsha Expressway.
The directive follows findings that the contractor received payments totalling N14 billion without delivering the project milestones associated with the funding. The affected stretch is a critical component of one of Nigeria’s most important economic arteries, which links the ports of the South-South to the commercial hubs of the South-East.
The Minister’s move signals a crackdown on contractor negligence and the misappropriation of public funds intended for critical infrastructure. Umahi has repeatedly emphasised that the federal government will no longer tolerate contractual delinquency where companies collect mobilisation fees and milestone payments without completing the corresponding physical work.
The Ministry of Works is reportedly treating the case as a matter of financial impropriety and a breach of the public procurement act. The N14 billion disbursement represents a significant expenditure for a relatively short distance, highlighting the high costs of rehabilitating the corridor, which has suffered from decades of deterioration.
The Benin-Onitsha Expressway serves as the primary route for transporting manufactured goods and agricultural produce between the coast and the hinterland. For years, the road’s dilapidated state has increased the cost of logistics, leading to higher prices for consumers and reduced efficiency for haulage companies operating in Delta, Edo, and Anambra states.
Systemic Failures in Federal Procurement
The failure of Hartland Civil Engineering to deliver the 11km section underscores recurring issues within the Nigerian public procurement framework, particularly regarding the verification of project milestones. Under standard government contracts, payments are typically released based on certificates of completion issued by project consultants.
The current investigation is expected to scrutinize how N14 billion was certified for payment while the road remained incomplete. This points to potential lapses in oversight or collusion between contractors and the consultants tasked with certifying the work for the Bureau of Public Procurement and the Ministry.
Industry analysts note that the practice of “fronting” remains a challenge in the construction sector, where firms secure contracts based on inflated technical capacities only to subcontract the work to less capable entities or abandon the site after receiving mobilisation funds.
The economic consequences of these delays extend beyond the immediate cost of the contract. Prolonged construction timelines on the Benin-Onitsha corridor create severe bottlenecks, increasing vehicle maintenance costs for transporters and extending transit times for perishable goods. According to reports on regional infrastructure gaps, these inefficiencies act as a hidden tax on trade in the South-East.
The arrest of the Managing Director is expected to be the first step in a broader legal effort to recover the disbursed funds. The federal government is also likely to blacklist Hartland Civil Engineering Construction from future government tenders across all ministries and agencies to prevent further loss of public funds.
The Ministry of Works is currently reviewing the project’s technical status to determine if the existing work can be salvaged by a new contractor or if the section requires a complete restart. A new procurement process to appoint a replacement contractor is expected to commence shortly to ensure the corridor is fully restored to traffic.
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