Rivers
PCC Boss Gets Good Leadership Award
The League of Characters
Club Nigeria (LCCN), has conferred on the Federal Commissioner, Public Complaints Commission (PCC), Rivers State, Dr. Alpheaus Paul-Worika, Good Leadership Award.
At the award ceremony held in Port Harcourt recently, the President-General of LCCN, Chief Christian Kokoriko, said the award was in recognition of the exemplary leadership exhibited in the discharge of his duties.
Kokoriko explained LCCN had watched with utmost interest, the activities of Dr. Paul-Worika and was proud to identify with his enviable character.
“As a leader, you are bound to meet challenges and huddles, but with responsible disposition of good character and prayers, you will overcome much challenges,” he said.
Kokoriko stated that LCCN had laid emphasis on character moulding in the schools and sports but regretted that some teachers in the schools did not have much to give to the students in terms of responsible character, noting that some teachers had been known to be members of cult groups.
He appealed to the society to view character moulding as everybody’s business and urged the youths to always respect elders in their dealings.
The LCCN’s boss presented a plaque and an official letter to Dr. Paul-Worika appointing him as a Patron of the Club.
In his response, the PCC boss, Dr. Alpheaus Paul-Worika commended the Character Club for the honour done him.
“It is a privilege to be nominated for an award and making me a patron in a club where the former President of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan is a Grand patron.
I feel honoured. The honour is a rare gift to one. Your honour indicates that the little we are doing here, the impact is being felt. We shall continue to do our best and also support you within the limit of our resources.”
He commended LCCN for its effort in moulding good and responsible character among the youths in Nigeria, stressing that inculcating good character was vital to the nation in view of the level of greed exhibited by some persons.
rents and teachers to redouble their efforts in training youths to be of good behavior, stressing that the family and schools have a strong role to play in the moral upbringing of the young ones in our society.”
He noted that PCC as the ombudsman in the society was created to ensure that everyone was given fair treatment and charged people whose rights and privileges had been infringed upon to visit the commission for redress instead of taking laws into their hands.
Chris Oluoh
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.”