Again, FGN Threatens To Revoke Berger’s Abuja-Kano Road Contract Over Pricing, Gives 7 Days
By SUNDAY ABBA, Abuja
The Federal Government of Nigeria has reaffirmed its readiness to end its contract with Julius Berger PLC to rehabilitate a section of the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Highway should the company fail to accept the latest reviewed Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved total sum of over N740 billion for the project in seven (7) days.
Minister of Works Sen Nweze David Umahi made this known when Berger’s new Managing Director (MD) Dr Pier Lubasch, in the company of his outgoing counterpart, Dr Lars Richter, paid a courtesy visit to the Minister at the ministry’s headquarters on Tuesday in Abuja.
According to a statement released on Wednesday by the his media aide, Barr. Orji Uchenna Orji, the Minister for the umpteenth time called on Julius Berger to show corporate patriotism by accepting the federal government approved reviewed total contract sum of ₦740, 797,204,713.25 for the completion of the rehabilitation of the 82 km section of the road, with contract No.: 6350.
Lamenting Berger’s delay in mobilising to site despite the approved funds by FEC and the plight of road users along that corridor, the Minister said, “So if Berger is not doing it, then let’s have other people to do the job and within the time that we can control price.
“We’ve had more than 20 letters from Berger on this. It is a ping pong game from Julius Berger. The prices rose from ₦710 billion to ₦740 billion because of these delays. And if we continue the delays, it is the problem of the Ministry of Works.”
Umahi expressed dismay that Berger which has had years of patronage by the federal and sub-national governments, is not realistic in the contract pricing, especially at this time of Nigeria’s economic challenges.
He therefore urged the contractor to within 7 days accept or reject the approved reviewed contract sum for the completion of the rehabilitation of the section in question or face contract termination, warning that the government can not be held to ransom by the desire for unrealistic pricing and augmentation by contractors.
He said, “This offer is not subject to any condition that is being dished out here. It’s taken as given after more than 14 months. I’m sorry, I have to sound this way because there must be an end to negotiation. If anybody says there shouldn’t be an end to negotiation, then that person is not a business person. If you have negotiated for 14 months without any result, you should terminate the negotiation.”
While welcoming the new Managing Director of Julius Berger Plc, the Minister reiterated the need for construction companies working with the Federal Ministry of Works to prepare to make sacrifices in terms of value for money and realistic contract pricing, so as to encourage the much needed road infrastructure revolution for the nation’s economic transformation which is a cardinal agenda of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led Renewed Hope administration.
Speaking further, he disclosed, “Already a number of Berger projects have been terminated because the site has been abandoned. And we needed to do something about it because Nigerians are suffering. Nigerians are crying, and they are insulting the President. We can not allow that to be happening.”
The new MD, Dr Lubasch, promised to revert as soon as possible on the issues sought to be addressed and hoped that consensus would be reached for the project to take off without further delay.
In his remark earlier, the outgoing MD, Dr Richter, noted that the essence of the courtesy call to the Minister was to introduce the new MD.