Kogi govt revokes N153 million road contract
The Kogi government has revoked the contract for the Idozumi-Okeneba-Agassa road, awarded to Baselino (Nig.) Limited at a cost of N153 million.
Announcing the revocation at Thursday’s plenary sitting of the state House of Assembly through a letter, the state government said that the action was in line with an earlier resolution of the House.
The House resolution on Novenber 9, 2006, stemmed from the adoption of the report of the House Committee on Works, which recommended the contract’s termination after a tour of the project site.
The committee reported that the contractor abandoned the job, after collecting about N51 million.
The committee also reported that the contractor, in collusion with some officials of the Ministry of Works, defrauded the state government by awarding contract for a 3.8-km stretch, instead of the actual 3-km road.
The Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Dr J. Achegbulu had told the House that N30 million, representing 20 per cent of the contract sum, had been paid out as mobilisation fees.
He added that an additional payment of N21 million was later made to the contractor on the recommendation of the ministry’s Site Engineer.
Achegbulu conceded that when the ministry’s officials visited the site for inspection, it was discovered that the contractor did not do much work and had literally abandoned the project.
He said that letters were written to the contractor to come back, saying, however, that the contractor ignored the appeal.
The Managing Director of Baselino, one Mr Abdulrahman, who also appeared before the House Committee, reportedly failed to give any satisfactory explanation on the matter.
The House then passed a resolution on the contract’s revocation and the prosecution of the contractor for defrauding the state government.