Nigerian Minister of Works, Sen. Engr. Nweze David Umahi, has commended Nigeria NLG Limited for its commitment to funding the completion of the Bodo-Bonny Federal road in Rivers State through tripartite agreement with Federal Government and Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, and for indicating interest to connect the road to East West Road to maximize the economic potentials of the area.
The Minister made this commendation when the management of Nigeria NLG Ltd led by its MD/ CEO, Dr Philip Mshelbilla, visited him in his office at Federal Ministry of Works Headquarters, Mabushi Abuja on 11th December, 2023.
He further commended them for putting the interest of Nigeria first in their contractual negotiations and for keying into innovations and ideals of Renewed Hope Administration of President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, with respect to quality, innovations, cost effectiveness and timely completion of road projects embarked upon by Federal Government.
According to him, “Thank you very much. When I see Nigerians that are standing for the country, I feel very excited because Nigeria is our only country. We can’t mortgage the country; we can’t sell the country.
“I saw your letter with regard to requests by Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, the contractor, to increase the contract sum. And you and your board together with your team vehemently stood against that. That gave me some teeth to bite because I saw a commitment by all parties that this project will not increase beyond augmented amount of 199,000, 000,000. So, I want to commend you for that.”
The Minister enjoined Julius Berger to respect the spirit and letters of the tripartite agreement and go back to site, assuring that Federal Govt would offer compassionate considerations on the remaining 16% uncompleted job without necessarily expanding the contract envelope.
“I discovered by the letters of JB that they have abandoned the site, and that’s against the contract they signed, even if they needed to leave the site, the general conditions of contract specify the procedures for notices in such a circumstance.
“Well, we have discussed with them and I said, we are going to look at the remaining 16% on a compassionate ground, and see whether there is any merit, and we can see if there is any money left in the contingency, but definitely will not expand the envelope.
“Expanding the envelope means you are going back to your Board. Expanding the envelope means my going back to Federal Inland Revenue, going back to BPP, going back to Mr. President, going back to Federal Executive Council. So it’s a long journey, and that will not allow that project to be completed as planned”
Speaking on behalf of the management of Nigeria NLG Ltd, the MD/CEO reiterated the vision of the company in not only building a globally competitive LNG company but also in contributing towards building a better Nigeria by delivering quality infrastructure through projects such as the Bobo-Bonny road being funded by NLNG.
He assured that everything possible would be done to complete the road on time as provided under the agreement bearing in mind the concerns of the contractor handling the project.
“With regards to coming back to the Bonny Bodo road, we see two parts to it, the main road itself. We are really looking forward to that being completed on time. We have had commitments in the past from the contractor around its completion and we do understand that there are concerns around what is happening in the economy now”
He thanked the Hon. Minister of Works for his commitment to road infrastructure revolution and expressed hope that the economy of Nigeria would bounce back with the manifest determination of President Tinubu’s administration in fixing the critical infrastructure for the growth of our economy.
He assured the Minister of the readiness of the company to partner with Federal Govt always in her developmental efforts.
“We have indicated an interest to pursue the extension of that road from Bodo so that it connects to the East West Road. That way you then have a complete corridor of major roads connecting to East West Road, rather than ending in Bodo.
“In summary, just to thank the Minister again, your commitment to projects like this across the country will indeed make huge difference to the common man, to transportation of people, farmers who need to move their products”.