LAGOS IBADAN EXPRESSWAY: FG sacks Bi-Courtney, hires Julius Berger, RCC
The Federal Government on Monday
terminated its concessional agreement with Bi-Courtney Consortium for
the reconstruction of the 125-kilometre Lagos – Ibadan Expressway.
The government, while announcing the revocation of the contract with
Bi-Courtney, said both Julius Berger Nigeria Plc and RCC Nigeria Limited
had been hired to do the job.
The government accused Bi-Courtney, owned by billionaire businessman,
Wale Babalakin, of serially breaching the terms of the concession
agreement signed by both parties on May 26, 2009 under the late
President Umaru Yar’Adua administration.
But Bi-Courtney spokesman, Dipo Kehinde, said the government had been
unfair to the company, insisting that it had kept its side of the
agreement while the other party did not. “They were just looking for
excuses for us to fail,” Kehinde told The PUNCH.
Under the Design, Build, Operate and Transfer agreement, Bi-Courtney was
expected to refurbish the road with N89.53bn and collect toll on it for
25 years in order to recoup its investment.
The scope of work involved the provision of two additional lanes in each
direction between Lagos and Sagamu Interchange, making it four lanes;
the provision of associated facilities for the security and welfare of
road users, as well as ensuring a free flow of traffic.
The Minister of Works, Mr. Mike Onolememen, said in terminating the
contract with Bi-Courtney, the Federal Government took into
consideration the rules of disengagement as stated in the agreement.
He recalled that the government had repeatedly written to Bi-Courtney to
remedy the situation without any positive result from the firm.
The minister said, “Due to the senseless carnage on this important
expressway, which is part of Arterial Route A1, the Federal Government
has also decided to embark on the Emergency Reconstruction of the
expressway.
“Consequently, the Federal Ministry of Works has engaged the services of
Julius Berger Nigeria Plc and RCC Nigeria Limited to commence work
immediately on the reconstruction of the expressway.
“While Julius Berger would handle Section 1: from Lagos to Shagamu
interchange, RCC Nigeria Limited will be responsible for Section II:
from Shagamu to Ibadan.
“The Federal Government wishes to assure (Nigerians) that while it will
continue to uphold the sanctity of contracts entered into by the Federal
Government, it will not shy away from implementing provisions of the
contract agreement dealing with non-performance on the part of the
contracting party.
“The legal implications of this termination have been carefully
considered by both the Federal Ministry of Works and indeed the Federal
Government. If you recall we have been on this issue for quite some time
now and we have meticulously followed the concession agreement, the
provision of relevant clauses of the agreement.
“We have complied fully with the provisions of this agreement. We have
had cause even in the past to write the concessionaire to detail the
breaches which it had committed in this agreement in this particular
transaction and we have also followed the minimum and maximum number of
days the contractor was expected to remedy the situation but failing
which the Federal Government had no alternative but to take this course
of action,” he added.
The minister said since it was a concessional project, which was
different from the normal EPC contracts, the Federal Government did not
make any direct payment to Bi-Courteny.
He said the firm was expected to raise the fund from the private sector
and apply it to the construction of the expressway and collect toll on
it for 25 years, to recoup its investment.
This, he explained, had not happened.
“For your information, under this concession the construction period is
supposed to last for four years and the four years will come to a close
in about six months’ time and right now there is nothing on ground to
suggest that the company is capable,” he added.
Onolememen said it was not out of place to give indigenous companies opportunities to handle projects of that nature.
But Kehinde said that government frustrated Bi-Courtney from executing
the project, adding that it took the government two years to approve the
design of the project.
He also said that Bi-Courtney fought for a Right of Way alone, just as
government did not intervene in the battle it had with some South-West
state governors in the struggle for the road.
“The Federal Government also made us to get the commitment of foreign
firms for the project only for the Government to ask us to return to the
old agreement and we had to bring in government contractors.”
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