Osun International Airport Contractor Demands N.5bn for Job Done
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Draftsman’s impression of the airport facade
A demand notice for the sum of N570,231,101.94k has been submitted to the government of the State of Osun, as the cost incurred on the contract for the building of the Moshood Abiola International Airport, Ido-Oshun, Osogbo, Osun State, that is yet to be paid.
The contractor, JM & AS Limited, who commenced work during the tenure of the former Governor, Engr Rauf Aregbeshola, said the incumbent Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola, acted improperly by unilaterally handing the facility over to the Nigerian Air Force, NAF, while still owing the contractor the above sum for the number 4 and 5 interim certificates as contained in the final accounts.
The demand notice was delivered to the Governor’s Office by the firm of Solicitor and Advocates to the contractor, Messers J. J. Usman, a Senior Advocate of Nigerian bar (SAN).
The law firm claimed that its client, JM & AS Limited, accused the state government of “curiously and purportedly re-awarded the contract or handed-over the site to a different company other than Awol International Limited as contained in the Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, despite the subsisting contract of our client, which has not been terminated”.
Hence the law firm claimed its client had mandated it to demand “the immediate payment of our client’s outstanding balance of N570,231,101.94 being the balance for the interim Certificate No. 4 and Interim Certificate No. 5 outstanding as contained in the final account.”
The solicited averred that the contractor is willing to deliver on the terms of the agreement “and also your government to provide the enabling environment for our client to mobilize back to site as our client’s contract is still subsisting and our client is willing, able and capable of completing the construction of the Moshood Abiola International Airport Osogbo, Osun State.
Recall that just last month, 27th July 2022, at an elaborate ceremony, Governor Oyetola handed the facility to the Nigeria Air Force, NAF.
Governor Oyetola at the well-attended ceremony on Wednesday, 27th July 2022, said inter alia, “I would like to state here that request by the Nigerian Air Force for the State Government to cede the runway and the entire airport corridor to them, shall be granted. The corridor will be developed for both military and civilian use,” he said.
However, several efforts to elicit the position of the government from the governor were futile. Both the Commissioner for Information and the Chief of Staff to the Governor were reached also to no avail.
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