were that the Federal Government plans to re-award the contract for the full
reconstruction of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway to Julius Berger Nigeria in
March.
The construction giant had some weeks ago moved its men and machines out of
site, blaming failure by the Federal Government to pay N52 billion for the
rehabilitation work done ahead of the yuletide, after the contract for the job
initially awarded to concessionaire- Bi-Courtney Nigeria was cancelled.
The new contract to Julius Berger is expected to cover the area between old
Lagos toll gate end to the Shagamu interchange, which constitutes section one
of the road rehabilitation to Julius Berger in March, if feelers emerging from
the Federal Ministry of Works are anything to go by.
Daily Independent exclusively gathered from a top official of the Federal
Ministry of Works, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, that the Ministry
was putting final touches to the budget proposal that would be submitted by the
Minister, Mike Onolememen to the Federal Executive Council for approval soon.
The cost of the new contract which the source refused to disclose, is expected
to be a little above N100 billion, up from the N89.5 billion value of the
revoked BI-Courtney contract.
According to the source, the Federal Government was no longer willing to put
the road reconstruction project under the Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT)
agreement hitherto entered into with Bi-Courtney Highways Services Limited
(BHSL).
This administration, our correspondent learnt, now wants to re-award the
contract for the full reconstruction of the road as its own project.
In the former agreement entered into between Abuja and BHSL, the company was
required to build, operate and transfer after 25-year period, within which time
the concessionaire would have recouped its investment.
The Ministry, the source continued, opted to award the contract to Julius
Berger “because of its track record and competence.”
Meanwhile, section two of the road beginning from Shagamu to Ibadan will still
be handled by RCC Nigeria Limited, another construction firm, for which no
timeframe has yet been set.
The Minister last November blamed “breeches in contract” for government’s
decision to revoke with Bi-Courtney, adding that Julius Berger and RCC Nigeria
Limited had been mandated to make the road motorable for the Yuletide.
