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Julius Berger, the construction giant which Gov Nyesom Wike brought to rebuild Rivers State through steady projects, has come under fire from the Sole Administrator that is running the state under emergency rule.
The Solad has reacted to media reports hyping alleged gradual withdrawal of Julius Berger from project sites in Rivers State, especially the Port Harcourt Ring Road. Ibok-et Ibas, the retired vice admiral, said in a statement signed by Hector Igbikiowubo, Senior Special Adviser to the Solad on media, that the media hype was likely orchestrated by Julius Berger.
The statement strongly condemned what it termed misleading and malicious publication, rejecting the content which indicated that Julius Berger Nigeria PLC has begun withdrawing its services from project sites in Rivers State due to alleged shortfalls in payments by the government.
Government said the claim was a deliberate misrepresentation of facts and a calculated attempt to tarnish the reputation of the administration.
The statement said nothing could be farther from the truth. “The Rivers State Government has consistently and dutifully met all its contractual obligations to contractors, including Julius Berger Nigeria PLC, which has received all payments due since the declaration of Emergency Rule in the state.
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Submitting what it called the real motive of the publications, the statement said the report was nothing more than a campaign of calumny orchestrated after failed attempts to pressure the Rivers State Government into approving an exorbitant and unjustified variation request for the ongoing Ring Road project. “The facts are as follows: The original contract sum for the Ring Road project was N195.6bn. Julius Berger submitted a variation request demanding an additional N171.7bn representing almost 88% increase in project cost. If approved, this would raise the total project cost to a staggering 367.5bn.”
The government statement hinted that it is an attempt to forestall such unreasonable claims and protect the State from such arbitrary variation requests, the Rivers State Government at the commencement of the project took a facility from a bank and paid a 77% advance payment in the sum of N150bn to Julius Berger.
Sources admit that inflation has flown to over 500% since the project was awarded in the first few days of the present administration such that a bag of cement has risen from N2,500 in June 2023 to N11,000 per bag in recent times. So have other items like roads and wires skyrocketed.
The government said the 88% variation was not justifiable, meaning that their quantity surveyors may have studied the request deeply and found it unreasonable in accordance with present market realities.
What is important, however, is that Julius Berger was brought into the state by Wike.
His successor and political godson, Sim Fubara, continued the patronage.
The PH Ring Road was awarded soon after Fubara took over, a period when Wike had full influence of the new government.
Sources could not confirm whether both Wike and Fubara see anything wrong with the high variation request, or if they are even aware of the request in the first place.
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