Rivers
LG Boss Lauds PHRC Over Market Completion
The Executive Chairman of Okrika Local Government Area , Hon Akuro Tobin, has lauded the Port Harcourt Refinery Company Limited (PHRC) over the completion of the Ekerekana Ultra Modern Market in Okrika Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Hon Tobin, who made the commendation recently during the commissioning of the market, said the establishment of the market will go a long way to alleviate the economic burden of Rivers people, especially those residing at Okrika LGA .
‘’I’m highly delighted to state here that the special committee I inaugurated to expedite action on the relocation of the stalls also kept to the Terms of Reference (TOR) given them”, he said.
While appreciating PHRC for their partnership, collaboration and cooperation throughout the entire process of building and relocation, he assured PHRC of proper utilisation and management of the facility in the LGA.
The Managing Director, Port Harcourt Refinery Company, Engr Ahmed Dikko, while commissioning the ultra modern market, said, “the bold disposition displayed by the Council boss throughout the relocation process is worth emulating’’.
He, however, urged the benificiaries to make judicious use of the market for the purpose for which it was meant.
Dikko, who was represented by the Executive Director, Operations, Engr Sheik Mohammed, also stated that “the mechanism put in place by the Council Chairman led to the commissioning of the market”.
Mohammed further assured that the company would not relent in its obligations to its host communities as much as there are available funds for onward scale up of any project.
He also commended the Okrika council boss on his developmental strides and urged other council chairmen to borrow a leaf from Okrika Local Government Area.
By: Michael Abraham & Wokoma Emmanuel
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.”