The Federal Government has handed down a firm directive to cement producers across Nigeria, ordering an immediate downward review of the product’s exorbitant price, even as it warned contractors against seeking contract adjustments based on rising material costs.
Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, delivered the marching order on Sunday in Lagos during a keynote address at an industry forum attended by construction magnates, investors, and sector stakeholders.
The Minister, who spoke with evident frustration over the spiraling cost of building materials, declared that cement manufacturers must bear the responsibility for cost reduction, not the contractors executing government projects.
“From the First of July, we shall be engaging them. Cement manufacturers must reduce their prices because contractors are choking me with requests to review their contracts,” Umahi stated bluntly.
He quickly dismissed any possibility of yielding to such demands, adding: “Nobody is reviewing anybody’s contract. It is the manufacturers of cement that should review their costs.”
The Minister’s stance reflects growing government anxiety over the debilitating effect of high cement prices on the nation’s ambitious infrastructure drive. With major road and bridge projects in various stages of execution across the country, contractors have increasingly complained that soaring material costs are rendering their initial bids unsustainable.
Rather than approve contract variations, Umahi challenged the manufacturers to expand their production capacities, insisting that the current demand far outstrips supply.
“The market is smaller than what the President is doing. So, enlarge your coast,” he charged the industry players.
The Federal Government is expected to commence formal negotiations with cement manufacturers from July 1, with a view to arriving at a pricing framework that balances business interests with national development objectives.
Observers have described the Minister’s directive as a strong signal that the Tinubu administration will not tolerate practices that undermine its flagship infrastructure programmes, even as cement manufacturers continue to grapple with rising energy and logistics costs.
The outcome of the upcoming engagement between the government and cement producers is now being closely watched by contractors, developers, and millions of Nigerians who have borne the brunt of the relentless price hikes.
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