Minister commends Nigeria LNG for commitment to the completion of Bodo-Bonny Federal Road in Rivers State

• Applauds Nigeria LNG’s interest to connect to East West Road

The Hon. Minister of Works, His Excellency, Sen. Engr. Nweze David Umahi, CON has commended Nigeria NLG Limited for its commitment to funding the completion of the Bodo-Bonny Federal road in Rivers  State in line  with the tripartite  agreement with Federal  Government  and Julius  Berger  Nigeria Plc, and for indicating  interest  to connect the road to East  West Road to maximize the economic potentials  of the area.

A statement issued by Hon. Barr. Orji Uchenna Orji, Chief Press Secretary to the Hon. Minister of Works, noted that the Hon Minister made this commendation when the management of Nigeria NLG   Ltd led by its MD/ CEO, Dr Philip Mshelbilla, visited him in his office at Federal Ministry of Works Headquarters, Mabushi Abuja on 11th December,2023.

He further commended them for putting the interest of Nigeria first in their contractual negotiations and for keying into the innovations and ideals of the Renewed Hope Administration of President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR with respect to quality, innovations, cost effectiveness  and timely completion  of  road projects embarked  upon by Federal Government.

“Thank you very much. When I see Nigerians that are standing for the country, I feel very excited because Nigeria is our only country. We can’t mortgage the country; we can’t sell the country.

I saw your letter with regard to requests by Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, the contractor, to increase the contract sum. And you and your board together with your team vehemently stood against that.  That gave me some teeth to bite because I saw a commitment by all parties that this project will not increase beyond the augmented amount of 199,000,000,000. So, I want to commend you for that,” the minister explained.

The Hon Minister enjoined Julius Berger to respect the spirit and letters of the tripartite agreement and go back to site, assuring that Federal Government would   offer compassionate considerations on the remaining 16% uncompleted job without necessarily expanding the contract envelope.

“I discovered by the letters of JB that they have abandoned the site, and that’s against the contract they signed, even if they needed to leave the site, the general conditions of contract specify the procedures for notices in such a circumstance.

“Well, we have discussed with them and I said, we are going to look at the remaining 16% on a compassionate ground, and see whether there is any merit, and we can see if there is any money left in the contingency, but definitely will not expand the envelope.

“Expanding the envelope means you are going back to your Board. Expanding the envelope means my going back to Federal Inland Revenue, going back to BPP, going back to Mr. President, going back to Federal Executive Council. So, it’s a long journey, and that will not allow that project to be completed as planned.”

Speaking on behalf of the management  of Nigeria NLG Ltd, the  MD/CEO, Dr Philip Mshelbilla reiterated the  vision of the company  in not only building  a globally competitive LNG  company but also in contributing  towards  building  a better  Nigeria by  delivering  quality  infrastructure through projects  such  as the Bobo-Bonny  road being  funded  by NLNG.

Mshelbilla assured that everything  possible  would  be done to complete  the road on time  as provided under the agreement bearing in mind the concerns of the contractor handling the project.

“With regards to coming back to the Bonny-Bodo road, we see two parts to it, the main road itself. We are really looking forward to that being completed on time. We have had commitments in the past from the contractor around its completion and we do understand that there are concerns around what is happening  in the economy  now,” NLG MD/CEO said.

He thanked  the Hon. Minister  of Works for his commitment to road infrastructure  revolution  and expressed hope that the economy  of Nigeria  would  bounce back with the  manifest  determination  of President  Tinubu’s administration  in fixing  the critical  infrastructure  for the growth of our economy. He assured the Hon. Minister of the  readiness  of the company  to partner  with  Federal  Government  always  in her developmental  efforts.

“We have indicated an interest to pursue the extension of that road from Bodo so that it connects to the East West Road. That way you then have a complete corridor of major roads connecting to East West Road, rather than ending in Bodo.

“In summary, just to thank the Minister  again, your commitment to projects like this across the country  will indeed make a huge difference to the common man, to transportation of people, farmers who need to move their products,” Mshelbilla added.

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