The Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, has ordered the arrest of the Managing Director of Hartland Nigeria Limited, escalating tensions over the firm’s handling of an 11-kilometer stretch of federal road works valued at roughly ₦14 billion.
The directive followed an inspection of the Agbor-Asaba-Onitsha corridor in Delta State, where Umahi expressed frustration that the contractor had completed only about 40 percent of the project despite having received full payment for the job.
The minister pointed out that the scope of the contract went beyond road construction alone, covering essential channelization and hydraulic structures needed to protect the corridor.
Umahi said he had personally attempted to resolve the impasse before resorting to the arrest order. “I’ve reached out to the MD to urge them to return to the site, but they have failed to comply. I will not hesitate to have him arrested,” he stated.
Beyond the arrest order, the minister moved to claw back federal funds already disbursed to the company. He instructed ministry officials to have the Directors of C&R contact the relevant banks to secure an immediate refund of monies paid to Hartland.
An audit of the company’s records has also been ordered, with Hartland required to submit all payment records and certificates for review, and the minister warning of further sanctions should discrepancies be uncovered.
Visibly angered by the state of unfinished work along the corridor, including an incomplete bridge approach, Umahi described the contractor’s failure to carry out basic road filling as “pure wickedness” and demanded that the approaches on both sides of the bridge be filled by the following morning.
The Hartland dispute was one of several flashpoints during the minister’s tour of the south-east/south-south road network in recent days.
Umahi also raised alarm over vandalism on the Second Niger Bridge, noting the removal of critical components such as bolts and steel members, and questioned where funding for repeated repairs would come from given the sabotage.
The Hartland case fits a pattern that has defined Umahi’s tenure at the Ministry of Works in recent weeks.
Earlier the same week, he ordered federal controllers nationwide to arrest any contractor caught stripping asphalt from existing roads after a heated inspection of the deteriorating Benin-Asaba and Benin-Sapele highways, where he publicly apologized to motorists for the hardship caused by slow-moving concession projects and accused the Benin-Asaba Expressway Concession Company of technical incompetence.
Taken together, the incidents point to an increasingly hands-on and hardline approach from Umahi toward contractors and concessionaires on federal road projects, with on-the-spot arrest orders, refund demands, and threatened contract terminations becoming recurring features of his site inspections.
Hartland Nigeria Limited has not yet issued a public response to the allegations.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
A contractor collected nearly ₦14 billion in full payment for an 11 km road job in Delta State but delivered only about 40% of the work, and Minister Umahi has now ordered the Managing Director’s arrest, a refund of the funds, and a full audit of the company’s records.
It’s a stark case of alleged non-performance despite full payment, and it signals the Ministry of Works’ harder line on accountability for contractors on federal road projects.
