Why Julius Berger Abandoned Project Sites In Rivers – Ibas

Rivers State Government has debunked reports that construction giants, Julius Berger Nigeria PLC withdrew from project sites in the state because of shortfalls in payments from the government on the projects it is handling.
In a press statement issued by Mr. Hector Igbikiowubo, the Special Assistant on Media to the Sole Administrator on Friday, the state government condemned the publications that claimed that Julius Berger Nigeria PLC has begun withdrawing its services from project sites as an attempt to tarnish the reputation of the administration.
“Nothing could be farther from the truth,” said the statement .
“The Rivers State Government has consistently and dutifully met all its contractual obligations to contractors, including Julius Berger Nigeria PLC, which has received all payments due since the declaration of Emergency Rule in the state.
“The Real Motive Behind Misinformation This baseless report is nothing more than a campaign of calumny orchestrated after failed attempts to pressure the Rivers State Government into approving an exorbitant and unjustified variation request for the ongoing Ring Road project.”
It said the original contract sum for the Ring Road project was N195,695,980,239.61 and Julius Berger submitted a variation request demanding an additional N171,755,448,105.05, representing an 87.77 percent increase in project cost.
“If approved, this would raise the total project cost to a staggering N367,451,428,344.66,” the statement said.
It further explained that in an attempt to forestall claims of variation and protect the State from such arbitrary variation requests, the Rivers State Government at the commencement of the project took a facility from a bank and paid a 77 percent advance payment in the sum of N150 billion to Julius Berger.