BARELY 24 hours after President Goodluck Jonathan hinted that government would soon decide the fate of the concession agreement with Bicourtney Consortium on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the Federal Government on Monday announced that it has revoked the contract.
It has instead contracted Julius Berger and RCC Limited to commence immediate reconstruction of the road.
The Nigerian Tribune, on September 5, had exclusively reported about the impending withdrawal of the concession of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway road construction to Bi-Courtney Construction Company.
The concession arrangement for the 105-kilometre road constructed in 1974, was approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) on April 15, 2009 at the cost of N89.53 billion for a period of 25 years under a Design, Build, Operate and Transfer (DBOT) scheme.
By the agreement, the concessionaire was expected to reconstruct, expand and modernise the highway and recoup its investment through toll collection.
Answering questions on the state of roads in the country particularly the Lagos-Ibadan and the Benin-Ore roads, President Jonathan had said during Sunday’s live Presidential Media Chat that that there were signs that the concessionaire was not capable of handling the project.
The Minister of Works, Mr Mike Onolememen, in an emergency press briefing at the Presidential Villa on Monday, said the concession granted to Bicourtney Consortium has now been terminated because government could not afford to continue to allow the roads users to suffer.
Advancing reasons for the government’s action, he said it was taken especially because of the failure of the company to reach financial close as provided for in the agreement.
He added: “Due to the senseless carnages on this important expressway which is part of Arterial Route A1, the Federal Government has also decided to embark on the emergency reconstruction of the expressway.
“Consequently, the Federal Ministry of Works has engaged the services of Julius Berger Plc and RCC Nigeria Limited to commence work immediately on the reconstruction of the expressway.”
Onolememen noted that while Julius Berger will handle section 1, from Lagos to Sagamu interchange, RCC Nigeria Limited will be responsible for section II, from Sagamu to Ibadan.
“The Federal Government wishes to assure that while it will continue to uphold the sanctity of contracts entered into by the Federal Government, it will not shy away from implementing provisions of the contract agreement dealing with non-performance on the part of the contracting party,” the minister stated.
It is recalled that in May 2012, South-West state governors had met with President Jonathan over transport infrastructure in the zone, particularly the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
The governors were particularly disappointed with the condition of the road and the fact that the concessionaire had been unable to implement the project.
Speaking on the legal implication of the agreement termination, the minister explained that government had carefully considered the implication and meticulously followed the concession agreement.
According to him, “The legal implications of this termination have been carefully considered by both the Federal Ministry of Works and indeed the Federal Government.
“If you recall, we have been on this issue for quite sometime now and we have meticulously followed the concession agreement, the provision of relevant clauses of the agreement.
“We have complied fully with the provisions of this agreement. We have had cause even in the past to write the concessionaire to detail the breaches which it had committed in this agreement in this particular transaction and we have also followed the minimum and maximum number of days the contractor was expected to remedy the situation but failing which the Federal Government had no alternative but to take this course of action.”
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