SOJI AJIBOLA, Ibadan
Management of ENL Consortium Firm, a construction firm handling the first phase of the circular road has accused the Oyo State government of breach of contractual agreement and is demanding a payment of N10.6bn as compensation.
The Chairman of the Firm, Prince Adesuyi Hastrup, during an interview with newsmen put the total liability at N10.6bn and warned that the company might be forced to drag the government before a London Arbitration Court if it fails to honour the bilateral agreement.
The figure includes N3.9 billion already expended on the project and N6.7 billion penalty being 10 per cent of the total contract sum in case of such termination.
Haastrup said the terms are clearly stated in the contract signed by both parties in 2017, insisting that his firm would remain on site until the sum is paid.
The contract was for a 32-kilometre road starting near the First Technical University on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway and terminating at Badeku village on the Ibadan-Ife expressway.
The road was designed as a bypass for travellers from Lagos passing through Ibadan to other parts of the country through Ibadan-Ife road.
The contract was awarded by the late Governor Abiola Ajimobi in 2007 for a sum of N67 billion on a Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis for 25 years.
After one year of work on the project, Governor Makinde terminated the contract over alleged inability of the ENL to justify the huge amount of money the immediate past administration had expended on the project.
However, Haastrup insisted that his firm would not leave the site until the government meets the terms of the agreement which includes offsetting the N3.9 billion spent on the project and the N6.7 billion penalty for terminating the contract.