Rivers
RSG Assures Private Sector Of Support
The Rivers State Government has once more reiterated its resolve to partner and support organised private sector, which is key in driving the economy, to operate in a conducive environment in the state.
The state Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike made the declaration while declaring open the 1st PH Agricultural Conference and Afro Allied Products Exhibition in Port Harcourt.
The governor, who said that the theme, “Unlocking the Economic Potential of Rivers State through Agriculture”, was apt, expressed the need for a paradigm shift from oil-based economy to one that is sustainable.
Represented by Secretary to the State Government, Hon. Kenneth Kobani, Rivers State governor, said that the government was consciously working to eradicate all forms of double taxation in the state but warned that the government would not hesitate to deal with business outfits that try to evade taxation in the state.
Earlier in his remarks, the President of PHACCIMA, Dr. Emi Membere-Otaji, said it was time Nigeria took the issue of diversification seriously instead killing agriculture and solid minerals for crude oil.
He appealed that the abundant crude oil should never again be exported in its raw form but refined into diverse forms of petrochemical products.
Also speaking at the event, the National President of NACCIMA, Iyalode Alabama Lawson, who commended the development strides of the state government, said that agriculture can aggressively grow the economy.
She called on the government to encourage farming by procuring farm implements and giving same to farmers, especially women, at very subsidised rates.
Some other dignitaries at the event included the state Commissioner for Agriculture, Hon. Charles Iheanyi Nwaorgu, represented by Maurice Ogolo, Chairman, state House of Assembly Committee on Agriculture, Hon. Chisom Dike, the Permanent Secretary, Cabinet, Sir Chidi Adiele, among others.
The event featured lectures and exhibition of agro-based products.
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.”