The immediate past Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki has explained why his administration inflated the contract sum for the reconstruction of Benin-Abraka road phase 1c thrice in a year.
NigerianEye had on Thursday reported that the contract sum
for 17.5-kilometers road project was inflated from N8 billion to N16.4 billion
by the immediate past government of Godwin Obaseki.
Recall that the project manager of the company handling the
project, Ifiokebong Ekong, had on Thursday told members of the Physical Assets
and Infrastructure, a subcommittee of the Edo State Assets Verification
Committee, that the project was awarded in May 2023 with the sum of N8 billion.
Ekong spoke when the subcommittee led by its chairman,
Patrick Obahiagbon visited the site while acting on a petition by Edo citizens
alleging massive inflation of the contract sum of road.
According to the project manager, the road contract was
awarded to Nsik Engineering Company Limited on May 16, 2023, while work
commenced in September 2023.
“The company was mobilized with the sum of N2.9 billion,
representing 25 percent of the contract sum of N8 billion. After the
mobilization, the contract sum was varied, and some amount was added to the
initial cost of the project.
“The completion period of the job, which was initially three
and half years, was reviewed downward to 18 months (one year and six months).
“The contract sum was initially N8 billion when it was
awarded in September 2023, but it was reviewed upward to N12 billion in 2024
and later to the current sum of N16.4 billion in June 2024”, he said.
Reacting, the immediate past Governor of the state, Godwin
Obaseki attributed the inflation of the road project thrice a year to the
alleged galloping inflation occasioned with the removal of fuel subsidy by the
All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government.
Obaski, who spoke though his media adviser, Crusoe Osagie
opined that the said road contract was awarded around May 2023, when the
incumbent President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu assumed office.
Osagie statement dated December 13, 2024 was titled,
“Revaluation of road contract sum due to galloping inflation caused by gross
mismanagement of economy by your APC government at centre, Obaseki tells
Okpebholo”.
According to him, the vacuity of the Edo State Governor
Monday Okpebholo, and his hatchet men was once again laid bare in their latest
jaundiced piece, where they made spurious and baseless allegations of road
contract inflation, in a desperate attempt to denigrate and rewrite the
sterling legacy of the immediate past governor of the State, His Excellency,
Mr. Godwin Obaseki.
“The said road contract was awarded around May 2023, when
the incumbent President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu assumed office. It is on record that
immediately after the president took office, the removal of subsidy and the
devaluation of the naira occurred, plummeting the naira and driving inflation
up by over 300 percent.
“Between May and September 2023, the economy had experienced
drastic price increases due to relentless inflation. The price of cement
climbed from about N3000 to N15000, fuel jumped from about N190 to over N600
per litre, and a bag of rice which used to be about N23,000 rose to over
N100,000. Other items including rods, sand, diesel, and even logistics and
manpower skyrocketed astronomically.
“It shouldn’t therefore be surprising that the contract sum
for the project, which was initially scheduled to commence in May but only
began in September, had to be reviewed. It was revalued the first time because
the inflation had just started and had to be reviewed again because the inflation
was relentless.
“Unfortunately, the committee is so bias that they decided
to orchestrate this blackmail in a desperate effort to tarnish the image of the
immediate past governor, while neglecting the fact that the galloping inflation
occasioned by the gross mismanagement of the national economy by their own
government at the centre was what was responsible for the review and increase
in contract sum.
“It is most disappointing and reprehensible that the State
Asset Verification Subcommittee on Physical Assets and Infrastructure, would
stoop this low just to denigrate and witch-hunt the immediate past governor,
His Excellency, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, who is adjudged to be arguably the best
governor to have ever governed the State, while resorting to lies and cheap
propaganda to achieve this ignoble agenda”, he stated.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com