Oyo State Commissioner for Public Works, Professor Daud Sangodoyin, says the allegations that state government is planning to destroy the equipment of a road contractor formerly handling the Ibadan circular road, ENL Consortium Limited is false.
He made the clarifications while briefing newsmen on the situation of things in respect of controversy trailing the construction of 32 kilometres Circular Road in Ibadan.
In a statement, the chairman of ENL Consortium, Prince Adesuyi Haastrup, had alleged that his company had uncovered plans by some elements to destroy its equipment on site pointing out that the state government was behind the move.
Dismissing the allegation, the commissioner explained that the state government was trying to open the other end of the circular road for the benefit of the citizens.
“So, I don’t know who gave them false information that we wanted to destroy their property,” he said.
On allegation that the state government didn’t obey the court order stopping work on the project, he said the state government had filed counter-affidavit against the order issued by an Abuja High Court restraining Craneburg Construction Company Ltd from working on the road project.
“It is true that ENL Consortium served notices to our lawyers and we went to court.
“But, on July 25, the state Ministry of Justice wrote us, based on the advice of the State Counsel that our contractor can go back to site, since we have filed counter-affidavit on the injunction.
“The authority cited by the state Ministry of Justice and our counsel stipulates that we can actually advise our contractor to start work.”
The commissioner said that the project awarded to the new contractor was a separate contract of bridges and interchanges on the stretch of the road after the termination of ENL Consortium contract.
According to him, the bridges and interchanges project on the road was not part of the initial contract, which the previous administration awarded to ENL Consortium.
Professor Sangodoyin recalled that the immediate past administration awarded the 32-kilometre East end wing of the 107 kilometres Ibadan Circular Road to ENL Consortium in 2017.
“But, it could only complete two kilometres out of 32 kilometres after the expiration of the duration agreed upon.
“Gov. Seyi Makinde encouraged the contractor to work on, so that perhaps, it would be able to finish the project.
“But up till 2020, the contractor did nothing and the contract was terminated due to the fact that the contractor didn’t fulfill the condition of the contract,” he said.
Sangodoyin said that the new contractor would soon open the Lagos end of the road project “to enable it to start work on interchange one and Bridges Two and Three.
ENL Consortium Ltd., was the construction company initially handling the project under the administration of the late Abiola Ajimobi in 2017 till 2020.
Makinde re-awarded the contract to Craneburg Company following which ENL Consortium approached the Federal High Court, Abuja, to seek redress over what it claimed to be breach of the concession agreement.
Justice Enobie Obanor of the Abuja High Court then granted the reliefs sought by ENL Consortium, issuing a restraining order against Craneburg Construction Company, the Oyo State Government and three others- Fadi Khalil, Mohammed Abdul and the state Attorney-General.
Iyabo Adebisi
Subscribe to ourTelegram channel
pub-5160901092443552
Related Posts
