Minister of works, Engr Nweze David Umahi, has commended Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited for its commitment to funding the completion of the Bodo-Bonny Road in Rivers State in line with the tripartite agreement with federal government and Julius Berger Nigeria Plc.
The minister also lauded NLNG for indicating interest to connect the road to East-West Road to maximize the economic potential of the area.
A statement by the chief press secretary to the minister, Orji Uchenna Orji, said he made the commendation when the management of Nigeria LNG Ltd led by its managing director/chief executive officer, Dr Philip Mshelbilla, visited him in his office on December 11,2023.
Umahi hailed NLNG 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 with respect to quality, innovations, cost effectiveness and timely completion of road projects embarked upon by the federal government.
He said, “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 N199,000,000,000. So, I want to commend you for that,” he said.
The minister urged Julius Berger Plc to respect the tripartite agreement and go back to site, assuring that the federal government would offer compassionate considerations on the remaining 16 percent uncompleted job without necessarily expanding the contract envelope.
Earlier, Dr 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.
He 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,” he said.
He thanked the minister for his commitment to the 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 the economy.
