Epunchng - Most read newspaper in Nigeria Saturday, 29th July, 2017 | Page 3

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July 29, 2017
3
N8.94bn debt: Contractor suspends work on Lagos-lbadan Expressway
Okechukwu Nnodim,
Abuja
T
he
contractor
handling
the
reconstruction and
expansion works on
the
Lagos-Ibadan
dual carriageway, Section
II, along Shagamu-Ibadan,
with Contract No. 6205, has
suspended further execution
of the project due to a total
outstanding debt of N8.94bn.
Reynolds
Construction
Company Nigeria Limited, in a
letter addressed to the Minister
of Power, Works and Housing,
Mr. Babatunde Fashola, and
dated June 2, 2017, called the
attention of the minister to the
worsening financial situation of
the project and pleaded for his
intervention in order to ease the
continuation of work on the site.
The letter which was received
and acknowledged by the
office of the minister on June
5, 2017, and made available to
our correspondent in Abuja on
Friday, revealed that as of when
it was sent, the outstanding debt
on approved certificates for
certified works on the project
was N7.83bn.
Reynolds told the minister
that the 28-day window allowed
for the payment of the certificates
as contained in the conditions of
the contract between parties had
“long expired.”
The firm said, “In addition,
Eniola Akinkuotu, Abuja
T
he acting Chairman
of the Economic and
Financial
Crimes
Commission,
Mr.
Ibrahim Magu, has
accused banks of creating a
friendly atmosphere for looters
to operate.
He added that some banks
were currently behind the
moves to separate the Nigeria
Financial Intelligence Unit and
the EFCC.
Magu further alleged that
when the NFIU is established
as a separate agency, a former
bank managing director would
be named as the head of the
agency.
In a Facebook post on Friday,
the EFCC quoted Magu as
saying this while receiving a
delegation of the International
Monetary Fund, which visited
the commission’s head office,
Abuja on Thursday.
The Senate had on Thursday
passed a bill seeking to
establish the Nigerian Financial
Intelligence Agency barely a
week after it was sponsored in
the chamber.
The powers and funding of
the EFCC will be greatly reduced
should the NFIU be separated
from the commission.
Magu said, “I don’t trust
the financial institutions. They
create an enabling environment
for thieves to loot our money.
That is why they are fighting to
remove the NFIU from us. They
want to use a former managing
director of a bank to head the
NFIU.”
Magu had last week
there is another Certificate
(No.19) of N1,108 334, 258
under processing. Thus, making
a total of N8, 937,611,552. The
mounting debt profile on this
project is worrisome.”
The letter, which was signed
by the firm’s Managing Director,
who simply gave his name as
M. Nakhla, stated that RCC was
committed to the successful
completion of the project, but
maintained that funding was a
challenge.
It said, “In view of the
dire situation, we shall be
constrained to suspend further
execution of work unless there
is an appreciable improvement
in the project’s cash flow and
adequate funding arrangement
is put in place for further works.
This painful decision is bound to
delay the scheduled completion
of the project, in addition to the
inherent cost implication.
“This letter is, therefore,
a notice of our intention to
suspend further execution of
the project, pursuant to Clause
68(8) of the Conditions of
Contract. In that unfortunate
event, we shall require payment
of the outstanding debt as well
as full coverage of our attendant
expenses and losses before
the resumption of work. A
corresponding extension of time
shall also become imperative,
pursuant to Clause 44 of the CC.”
The letter was also copied to
Motorways Asset Limited.
•Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode (right); with the Chief Operating Officer, Buhler, Dr. Holger Feidhege, during the
signing of an agreement for the acquisition of a 32-tonne per hour rice mill by the Lagos State Government in Zurich, Switzerland... on
Friday. Photo: Lagos State Government
Saraki, others to sponsor six-year-old Boko Haram victim’s surgery
Leke Baiyewu, Abuja
P
resident of the
Senate,
Bukola
Saraki, has pledged
to contribute towards
the
sponsorship
of a spinal cord corrective
surgery for a six-year-old boy,
Ali Ahmadu, ran over by Boko
Haram terrorists.
Saraki, according to a
statement by his Special
Assistant on Public Affairs,
Mohammed Isa, made the
pledge when the victim was
presented to him in Abuja
by officials of the Global
Initiative For Peace, Love and
Care, a non-governmental
organisation, spearheading the
campaign for his medical care.
The
Senate
President,
while sympathising with Ali
and his parents, promised
to mobilise his colleagues to
offset the balance of the cost of
the treatment after the group
had collected donations from
members of the public.
Magu accuses banks of aiding looters
inaugurated a committee to
reposition the NFIU, which
was recently suspended by the
Egmont Group of Financial
Intelligence Units.
The Egmont Group is
an
informal
international
gathering of over 132 financial
intelligence units which provide
the backbone for monitoring
international money laundering
activities
However, the NFIU, which is
under the EFCC, was suspended
by the Egmont Group for its lack
of autonomy and absence of a
proper operational framework.
Magu had set up a committee
comprising former officials of
the Central Bank of Nigeria and
other financial institutions to
help reposition the unit.
The EFCC, in a statement
by its spokesman, Mr. Wilson
Uwujaren, said, “The committee
which has members drawn from
law enforcement, financial and
regulatory agencies is chaired by
Dr. Abdullahi Shehu, a former
Director-General of the Inter-
Governmental Action Against
Money Laundering in West
Africa.
The NGO had told Saraki
that it had already commenced
soliciting
for
donations
from corporate bodies and
individuals on behalf of the kid.
Saraki said, “This is not just
what we must be seen to be
doing; this is all about serving
people. It will be a great joy for
us to have someone like Ali back
to normal life. My colleagues
and I will contribute whatever
the shortfall of what you will
raise in form of donations to
make sure he is given adequate
“Other members of the
committee are Mr. Chidi
Chukwuka from the Nigeria
Deposit Insurance Corporation;
Mr. Bamanga Bello, Head of
the Special Control Unit against
Money Laundering; Hajia
Jamila Yusuf of the Central Bank
of Nigeria; Mr. Udofia Obot, a
former Deputy Director, CBN;
while Mrs Joke Liman of the
EFCC is to serve as secretary.”
medical attention.
“Ali is not like many kids that
are not fortunate to survive Boko
Haram attacks; and as a society
that keeps seeking for foreign
assistance, we ourselves should
be able to do things like this
ourselves. This is an opportunity
for us to show our compassion
to the victims of Boko Haram.
“We will continue to work
harder to bring an end to these
crises in the North-East to
bring an end to the issue of
humanitarian and food crisis
there.”
Earlier,
the
GIPLC
Coordinator, Mr. Nuhu Kwajafa,
said Ali, who hails from Chibok
town in Borno State, was injured
by Boko Haram vehicle when
the insurgents invaded the town
three years ago.
Kwajafa said the NGO had
consulted several hospitals in
the United States, India and the
United Arab Emirates for the
treatment of Ali.
Elections: Fayose wants age barrier removed
Kamarudeen Ogundele,
Ado-Ekiti
E
kiti State Governor,
Mr. Ayodele Fayose,
has commended the
National Assembly
for its passage of the
bill to reduce the age limits for
elective positions.
The governor, however,
called for the total removal of
age barrier from the eligibility
conditions to contest elections
in the country.
He made the call in a
statement issued in Ado-Ekiti on
Friday by his Special Assistant
on Public Communications and
New Media, Lere Olayinka.
Fayose said, “If a Nigerian
who is 18 years can vote, such a
person should also be qualified
to be voted for and whether or
not such a person can be elected
should be left in the hands of the
electorate.
“Most importantly, age is
not a barrier to intellectual
capability and that has been
(seen) in most countries led by
young people. Here in Nigeria,
General Yakubu Gowon was
Head of State at 32.
“There is no nation that can
develop without giving its youths
(the) opportunity to serve. There
is nothing wrong in a 30-year-
old contesting for (the position
of the) President not to even talk
of (a) 35-year-old because the
future of Nigeria belongs to the
youth.”
The governor, who assured
that the Ekiti State House of
Assembly would endorse the bill
when presented to it, called on
other state Houses of Assembly
to endorse the bill.
He declared that he was
already putting into practice
the provisions of the bill in Ekiti
State, explaining that it was in
recognition of the importance
of youth’s involvement in
governance that he restricted
the age anyone could contest
for (the position of a) councillor
to between 18 and 40 years and
those above 50 years for the
chairmanship election.
“I salute the National
Assembly for passing this very
important bill that will enable
young Nigerians to contest for
(the office of the) President at
35, governor at 30 and House
of Representatives or State
Assemblies at 25. But the
National Assembly should
have removed the age barrier
completely,” the governor said.
Fayose, who reiterated his
decision to enforce the age
limit for local government
positions, said the bill passed
by the National Assembly had
reinforced his position on
the age limit for local council
positions in Ekiti State.
“It is my position that our
youths must be allowed to
participate in governance
since they are the ones who
provide the largest votes during
elections.
“Most importantly, the future
belongs to the youth and I
believe that they should be given
prominent roles in structuring
that future which belongs to
them.”
NDDC rejecting our hand of friendship –Akwa Ibom
Jesusegun Alagbe
T
he Akwa Ibom State
Government
has
said that despite
efforts to foster a
cordial relationship
between it and the Niger Delta
Development Commission’s
leadership in the state, the
commission’s
Managing
Director, Obong Ekere, is not
ready for such reunion.
A statement by the
state’s Commissioner for
Information, Charles Udo,
said the latest evidence of the
NDDC’s hostility was shown
last weeke nd at a thanksgiving
service at the Methodist
Church Nigeria, Ikot Abasi
Diocese, which turned out to be
a show of “impudence” against
Governor Udom Emmanuel.
The statement read, “It
was discovered at the just
concluded event that, while
the compliments of, ‘His
Excellency, Sir and KJW’, were
attached to the name of Ekere
(the NDDC MD and a former
deputy governor of the state),
the governor, Emmanuel, was
simply addressed as ‘Udom
Gabriel Emmanuel’ on page
five of the programme, without
the corresponding titles and
prefix.
“Ekere
also
attracted
criticisms over his pettiness as
captured in the programme,
when he presented the
governor in a tired and casual
mood by refusing to use the
governor’s official portrait,
while presenting himself in a
dignified robe.
“If Ekere’s first act was
to be regarded as a mere
typographical error, what
justification would be offered
for his refusal to use the
governor’s official portrait?
And why was the blunder in
the programme particularly
committed?”
The statement said several
people had criticised Ekere
“for showing such level of
resentment towards the office
of his governor.”
The statement quoted an
anonymous commenter as
saying, “In order words, he
(Ekere) was referred to as ‘His
Excellency, Sir, KJW’ five times
on the event’s souvenir, while
the governor is not even fit to
be given a ‘Mister.’”