The federal government is still pursuing construction giant Julius Berger for N100 billion over the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road project, Works Minister David Umahi has revealed.
While N27 billion of the company’s claims have been waived, Julius Berger has yet to refund N73 billion, a debt the minister says only the President can authorize to write off.
Umahi disclosed this during a news conference in Abuja on Friday, also raising concerns about the widespread vandalization of critical infrastructure projects across the country.
He explained, “Don’t forget that the project was divided into four sections with a total rehabilitation cost of N150 billion. Berger pushed out other contractors and took over the entire project. When we met them, the project had already been fully awarded to Julius Berger at N650 billion, and out of N739 billion paid, they had completed about 240 kilometres, roughly 65 per cent of the project.”
On the remaining sections of the project, he added:
“Now, the balance of the project was about 210 kilometres by two, that’s 420 kilometres. Julius Berger offered to complete the remaining 230 kilometres for N1.5 trillion, but we offered N1.1 trillion. They did not agree. We took the matter to the Chief of Staff, the President, and the National Security Adviser, holding several meetings. But since we could not find N1.5 trillion, we had to terminate the contracts.
Umahi described the subsequent dispute over payments:
“When we terminated the contracts, Berger approached the National Assembly, claiming, ‘Look, the Minister of Works is terminating our projects.’ Remember, we are still owed N100 billion by the company. That was very shocking because Berger themselves reported that out of N739 billion paid, we were still owed N100 billion. I hope we didn’t know, because the payments were being processed by the National Sovereign Investment (NSI).”
On the final refund demand, the minister said:
“After everything, the ministry allowed about N27 billion in claims made by Julius Berger. So we now say: please return to the government N73 billion.
” People are spreading misinformation, but the point is, I told them not to waste their time; only the President can write off that amount.”
Julius Berger is yet to respond to the minister’s remarks.
