Rivers
RSG Awards Iwofe Road Contract …Re-awards Igwuruta Road
Rivers State Government
has awarded contract for the reconstruction of Iwofe road and re-awarded the contract for Igwuruta road in Obio/Akpor and Ikwerre Local Government Areas, respectively.
The State Commissioner for Works, Hon Victor Giadom who disclosed this to The Tide yesterday in his office said the effort was aimed at addressing the hardship suffered by the people plying the two roads.
He explained that the Igwuruta road project which would be dualised was re-awarded to Ukra Construction Company Nigeria Limited.
“We agreed to dualise the road so that people coming to that axis of the state through Oyigbo, Aba and Owerri would have no need entering into Port Harcourt,” he said.
“We have also awarded Iwofe, Rumuprikom road contract. The road would be dualised. It is expected that contractors move into projects sites in few weeks time,” he further said and expressed hope that the two contractors would give succour to the people by executing quality jobs.
Meanwhile, drainage work has commenced on the Woji Road in GRA axis of Port Harcourt city.
Hon. Giadom disclosed this while on an unscheduled inspection tour of some projects in the state. He assured residents of the area that the drainage work would be completed by May this year.
The Works Commissioner called on residents to support and co-operate with the government to ensure that the project is completed to end the flooding problem in the area.
Hon. Giadom expressed satisfaction with the quality and design of the pipes, noting that the drainage is designed such that a man-hole would be fixed at every 24 metres of the drain so as to check flooding arising from individual premises.
The Managing Director of Stemco Nigeria Limited, Engr. Gabriel Bitar assured that the May date of completion is feasible and advised builders to observe at least one metre of the high water mark level before embarking on building projects to avoid flooding.
Mr. Adave Banigo, a resident of the area expressed delight in the efforts of the state government to address the plight of residents and appealed to the contractor to keep to its part to save the residents from untold hardship.
Also inspected was the new ultra-modern Rumuwoji Market. Hon Giadom also expressed satisfaction with the corrective work that the new contractor carried out.
He said the market project would be completed in 30 days and solicited for the co-operation and understanding of traders promising that by the first week of April, traders can assess the market.
Chris Oluoh/Leticia Opusunju
Rivers
Macobarb CEO Cries Out, Says No Indigenous Contractor Can Win Case Against NLNG Or Oil Majors in Nigerian Courts …As Justice Nwogu Throws Out Macobarb’s N5.74bn Claim
Justice Chinwendu Nwogu of the Port Harcourt High Court has thrown out the N5.74bn claim filed by Macobarb, an indigenous contractor, against the NLNG for breach of contract and accumulated losses.
Shedrack Ogboru, the CEO of Macobarb International Limited, who filed the claims since 2022 as one of the claimants, in suit number HC/2013/CS/2022, has however cried out, saying the fate of indigenous contractors in Nigerian courts is doomed.
Ogboru told newsmen outside the court after the shock ruling that the judge abandoned the crux of the matter and the terms of the contract to deny Macobarb the claims.
Showing anger and frustration, Ogboru said he felt he presented tight case to the court to show that the NLNG breached terms of payments and that the breaches caused slowdown of the execution of the contract, but regretted that the judge did not agree with any of his arguments.
Saying many indigenous contractors have died as a result of injustices in the hands of the oil majors, he said only abroad do communities and local contractors get some form of justice, never in Nigeria.
Justice Nwogu had ruled that the NLNG did not breach its contract with the contractor and that the gas company did not unlawfully deny Macobarb payments.
The judge said work executed by Macobarb did not amount to ‘work done’ as stated in the contract terms except the NLNG approved it as so, and that the provision mandating the person recognized as ‘contract holder’ nominated by the NLNG as the one to authorize any dealings with the contractor did not mean that he alone could act for the NLNG as relied upon by the contractor. The judge ruled that the ‘contract holder’ was a mere day to day overseer of the project, and that any official mandated by the NLNG can terminate the contract.
The judge also ruled that the contract did not provide for ‘standdown payment’ and that the NLNG did not cause delays in the execution of the contract as claimed by the contractor.
The judge also ruled that the payment failures by the NLNG that the contractor claimed affected the contract did not amount to an offence or breach of the contract but that the contractor misused the loan he obtained from banks.
In the end, the judge ruled in favour of almost all the grounds submitted by the NLNG and none of the grounds by the contractor, and even tongue-lashed the contractor in most of his rulings.
Reacting, Ogboru said: “My case is presented 100 per cent, the NLNG’s case is zero; but surprisingly, the NLNG has rather been upheld, and Macobarb denied. I pity indigenous contractors in Nigerian courts. We are doomed.”