Ebonyi State government has vowed to arrest and prosecute Contractors handling the Izzo and Amanze 140 housing estate, Ishelu local government Area of the State for their inability to complete and handover the projects given to them since last year.
The State government through the Commissioner for Housing and Urban Development Engr. Francis Ori made this known to Journalists on Thursday in a joint briefing with the Commissioner for Information and State Orientation Engr. Jude Okpor.
Engr. Ori stated this few days after Governor Nwifuru, mandated him to arrest and prosecute 63 Contractors that are yet to complete their own projects according to law out of 87 contractors on or before 25 September.
Ori, who expressed disappointment that the contractors had failed to honour the contractual agreement despite the government fulfilling its part since September 22, 2023, said “This is the first of its kind in the history of Ebonyi State that Government paid 50% upfront”.
He then charged the contractors do return to site and complete the project or face the consequences.
His words “You will recall that on 22nd September 2023, Ebonyi State government awarded contracts to various contractors for the construction of 140 units of three bedroom bungalows for Izzo and Amanze autonomous communities. These one hundred -forty bedrooms were shared evenly 70/ 70 per autonomous community.
“These contractors signed contract agreement with the ministry and mobilized 50% first in the history and they commenced construction. Along the line, they started making some requests from the ministry which we considered. We deemed it necessary to convey a meeting with the contractors. We had a meeting with the contractors on the 22nd of January, 2024 when the contractors having stayed up to the required time at the site. They came complaining that they need a variation of the job and we said no, we paid you people 50% of the mobilisation upon that you are expected to have completed the sub-structural and super structural work.
“It was a very long argument and after the day, I briefed my boss whom out of grace said we should give them up till April and the contractors were mobilized back to site and if you have any certificate outstanding should indicate and some of the contractors applied and we paid them and they returned back to site. Little did we know that some of them did not complete the project.
“When we now conveyed another meeting of the contractors on June, the contractors started giving many excuses and we told them to go back to site and complete the job. Some of these contractors are still waiting to see what we will do up till few days ago when the Ojiji festival, the Governor directed that any contractor who fails to finish his job on or before 25th of September shall be arrested and prosecuted according to the law of the contract agreement.
“Yesterday, I was at the site for inspection, I saw some of the contractors coming back to site and I do hope they are coming back to site to complete the work.
The commissioner added “Immediately the contract was awarded, the contractors signed contract agreement with the ministry. That agreement was drafted from the Ministry of Justice of Ebonyi State government. The contractors were given to go through it before signing of which they did. There is a very important section of the contractual agreement, that is, article 5 subsection ( g) that stated that contractors has no reason to stop that work except if the certificate generated is delayed on payment and they have minimum of three months to stay in that site. These contractors have spent close to a year in that site and some of them are not ready to finish this job if we allow them to go the way they are going about it. They are also aware that this is a contract and I do not see reasons contractors should default. There are ways we are going to go with them as contained in that agreement. Each of the contractor like a cheque or a guarantor deposited in the ministry that if we fail to do this work, deposit our cheque in a bank and get your money. It was written in the agreement and they all signed.
“So, it is one of the measures we are going to take against them. We will arrest the contractors if he fails to complete the job on or before September 25th and we will take that contractor to court for court to compel him to adhere to the contract agreement.
However, the commissioner for Information and State Orientation Jude Okpor, said, the law will take its course at the end of the expiration of the time that has been set by the state government. According to him, nobody would drag the state government out because of its magnanimity to patronise local content.
“If the governor’s well thought out intensions to accommodate local contents in execution of contract in the State is referred to as kinsmen, I do not understand. But the truth remains that Ebonyi is an economy all of us must make conscious effort to stimulate if the resources of the state are given access to participate in the execution of contract, it will go a long way to stimulate the economy of the state, because these people are going to buy materials from people of the state and invariably it will help them to pay their taxes and other obligations to the State”.
