Rivers
Rivers HOS To Meet Civil Servants ’Morrow
The Rivers State Head of Service (HOS), Barr. Samuel LongJohn, will tomorrow meet with the entire staff of the state civil/public service.
A statement signed on behalf of the Head of Service by the Permanent Secretary Welfare in his office, Mr. Lambert Ekwueme indicates that the meeting would hold at the car park in front of the Podium Block of the state Secretariat Complex at 10.am.
The statement enjoined all Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Extra-Ministerial Departments to ensure that all staff of their respective ministries, departments and agencies attend the meeting as it would afford them the opportunity to meet with the new Head of Service as well as deliberate on issues concerning their welfare and effective service delivery.
Meanwhile, the Rivers State Head of Service (HOS), Barr. Samuel LongJohn has stressed the need for every public servant to be Information and Communication Technology (ICT) compliant as it would improve efficiency in the service.
Barr. LongJohn stated this last Friday when the executive and members of the State chapter of the Chattered Institute of Certified Secretaries and Reporters (ICSR) paid him a courtesy visit in his office in Port Harcourt.
He charged public servants to always strive to improve on their knowledge on ICT as well as in their respective professions, pointing out that such knowledge would benefit both the government and individuals as those who perform optimally stand a chance of being recognised and rewarded.
While expressing concern over complaints of non-conversion of some categories of staff who had acquired higher educational qualifications and non-payment of certain allowances, the Head of Service advised affected persons to always back up their complaints with relevant circulars.
“Rules should be interpreted liberally and not conservatively, when you interpret rules conservatively, you make things difficult for people”, he noted, promising to take steps to ensure that efforts of workers at improving their educational qualifications would not be in vain.
Earlier, the State Chairman of the Chattered Institute of Certified Secretaries and Reporters, Mr. Omevem Okagbo congratulated the Head of Service on his appointment and assured him of their unflinching support.
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.”