ENL Consortium Limited has faulted the Oyo State government on its cancellation of the Ibadan Circular Road project, adding that the government has not been committed to the contract, which it has spent N3.9billion.
It recalled that the 32-kilometre East End Wing of the107-kilometre proposed Ibadan Ring Road, known as the Ibadan Circular Road, was concessioned to it under an agreement on August 25, 2017, accusing the government of breaching the contract terms and threatening to sue it.
In a statement, Director of the company, Chief Moyo Adewuyi said: “The company has suffered lots of embarrassment; we are still paying for security because our equipment are still on site. The governor’s action is detrimental to the development of the state because those working on the project are locals and he has rendered them jobless. We want to emphasise that this lawlessness will not be allowed to pass and that is why we have warned the new contractors that government is a continuum and this administration cannot be vindictive in its actions.
“He has stalled progress on that project or the past eight months and refused our demands; we did not demand money because it is a PPP project and is contractor financed. What we requested was for a letter of consent that the company will be allowed to continue with the project.
He first promised and then reneged for no just cause than the fact that it was commissioned by his predecessor.
“We are not allowing this to slide; the project should not be made to suffer for personal reasons.
“He did the same to the Akobo way, which the Ajimobi administration awarded to us, though that was government financed. We were on site laying asphalt the day it was revoked and we still have about N225million outstanding to collect. The governor must face the art and science of governance and stop unnecessary battles. We will handle this through the instrumentality of the law and this will begin soon because we have been libeled as a company.
Read also: Oyo’ll become number one investment destination, says Makinde
“We have warned the new contractor, Messrs SEL-Vydra Consortium (incorporating Still Earth Capital Finance Limited and Vydra Investment Limited), a company that was just registered in May, which was awarded the contract that is still legitimately awarded to ENL Consortium Limited. And those ones awarded the contract to Peculiar Ultimate Concerns Limited as the contractor of the project in spite of the continued validity of ENL’s concession rights in furtherance of the concession agreement to beware because any attempt to break the law will be resisted by ENL.’’
“The governor said in re-awarding the contract, he saved N100billion for the state. How did he arrive at this calculation for a contract that was awarded in 2017 when a bag of cement was sold for N2,500 and iron rod was sold at N180, 000 per tonnes now that iron rods go for between N360, 000 and N400, 000. Do you have your own iron rods or cement company. This is just political gimmick to frustrate the project and hoodwink the good people of Oyo state. How will a governor that said he saved N100billion from re-awarding a contract ask the state assembly for loan approval for same project?”
It would be recalled that the state Commissioner for Public Works and Transport, Prof. Dahud Sangodoyin, had after a visit to the construction site, advised the contractor to quit, as reflected in the disengagement letter earlier sent to it. The Commissioner, who spoke to reporters, had said: “The consortium’s contract was terminated after the progress of work was highly unsatisfactory within the timeframe of the contract.” The contractor, however, denied the allegation. It accused the government of with-hunt.
Governor Seye Makinde added that the project based on Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) was delayed by ENL and that he planned to deliver it before his tenure ended in May 2023. It asked the company to apply for reimbursement.