Works Minister denies any contractual agreement with Infoquest Nig Ltd on Abuja- Kaduna Road

• Says the Ministry has contractual relationship with Infiouest International Limited
• Minister demands Daily Trust to render unreserved apology to Federal Ministry Of Works for unjustifiable falsehood to be published in at least 5 national dailies

The Honourable Minister of Works, His Excellency, Sen. Nweze David Umahi CON has rebutted in strong terms  the unwarranted, false,  misleading, and damaging report published in Daily Trust  Newspapers of  21st January 2025, which falsely represented the Federal Ministry of Works as having awarded a section of Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road dualization to Infoquest Nigeria Ltd.

In a press conference held on 21st January 2025 at the Conference Hall of the Honourable Minister of Works and attended  by the Honourable Minister of State for Works, Rt. Hon. Barr. Mohammed Bello Goronyo, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Works, Engr. Folunso  O. Adebiyi and  key directors of the Ministry, the Honourable Minister, described as mischievous, insensitively misleading and injurious the statement credited to him in the said publication, where he was wrongly quoted to have said that  Infoquest Nigeria Ltd secured a “No objection” of N252.89 billion from the Bureau of Public Procurement ( BPP) for the rehabilitation of a section Abuja- Kaduna- Zaria-Kano road and where they described  the Ministry as having awarded  the said contract to an obscure company.

A statement signed by Hon. Barr. Orji Uchenna Orji, Special Adviser ( Media) to the Honourable Minister of Works, noted that he made it clear that the Ministry had no business relationship with Infoquest Nigeria Ltd.

He further made it known that the company that has a contractual relationship  with the Ministry on the said project is Infiouest International Limited and that the company  is corporately active and is absolutely in compliance with all legal requirements and regulations set by the Companies and Allied Matters Act.

He berated the mischief  created  by the publication as a deliberate orchestration by a cartel to malign the Ministry, undermine  the efforts of the Renewed Hope administration in revolutionizing  road infrastructure  development and demarket the company that has proven capacity in road construction.

He demanded from Daily Trust Newspapers a public apology to the Federal Ministry of Works to be published in at least 5 national dailies for unjustifiably publishing falsehood against the Ministry of Works.

The Honourable Minister also alluded  to the mischiefs and deliberate misrepresentation of facts contained in the sponsored publications made in several  national dailies by Julius Berger Plc recently on the reason why they reneged in their contractual obligations in respect  of the section of  Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano road they were handling before  it was determined.

He  wondered why the coordinated onslaught of falsehood, blackmail, gangup by adversaries to the policy of government just because of the Ministry’s insistence on a new order of  value for money, quality assurance and best practices  in project pricing and execution.

He urged the public and the press to join in this desirable fight against national sabotage by some contractors.

In his remarks, the Honourable Minister of State for Works said he was delighted  by  the proactiveness and resoluteness  shown by the Ministry in decapitating  the intentions of those who made the false publication against  the Ministry which according to him was intended to distract  the Ministry and undermine its confidence before Nigerians.

He called  on the media operators not to allow themselves  to be used by the fifth columnists to publish unfounded reports to undermine  the Renewed Hope agenda but should always crosscheck  their information  with the appropriate authority so as to let out only the truth to the public.

In his vote of thanks, the Permanent Secretary described  the press briefing as thoughtful and timely.

He  harped  on the importance of development journalism and urged the media to always uphold  the truth in their professional duties of information dissemination rather than allow themselves to be used as a tool in the hands of enemies of our national development.

PHOTO NEWS