FG sacks Bi-Courtney, hires Julius Berger, RCC

The Federal Government on Monday terminated its concessional agreement with Bi-Courtney Consortium for the reconstruction of the 125-kilometre  Lagos – Ibadan Expressway.

The government, while announcing the revocation of the contract with Bi-Courtney, said both Julius Berger Nigeria Plc and RCC Nigeria Limited had been hired to do the job.

The government accused Bi-Courtney, owned by billionaire businessman, Wale Babalakin, of serially breaching the terms of the concession agreement signed by both parties on May 26, 2009 under the late President Umaru Yar’Adua administration.

But Bi-Courtney spokesman, Dipo Kehinde, said the government had been unfair to the company, insisting that it had kept its side of the agreement while the other party did not. “They were just looking for excuses for us to fail,” Kehinde told The PUNCH.

 Under the Design, Build, Operate and Transfer agreement, Bi-Courtney was expected to refurbish the road with N89.53bn and collect toll on it for 25 years in order to recoup its investment.

The scope of work involved the provision of two additional lanes in each direction between Lagos and Sagamu Interchange, making it four lanes; the provision of associated facilities for the security and welfare of road users, as well as ensuring a free flow of traffic.

The Minister of Works, Mr. Mike Onolememen, said in terminating the contract with Bi-Courtney, the Federal Government took into consideration the rules of disengagement as stated in the agreement.

He recalled that the government had repeatedly written to Bi-Courtney to remedy the situation without any positive result from the firm.

The minister said, “Due to the senseless carnage on this important expressway, which is part of Arterial Route A1, the Federal Government has also decided to embark on the Emergency Reconstruction of the expressway.

“Consequently, the Federal Ministry of Works has engaged the services of Julius Berger Nigeria Plc and RCC Nigeria Limited to commence work immediately on the reconstruction of the expressway.

“While Julius Berger would handle Section 1: from Lagos to Shagamu interchange, RCC Nigeria Limited will be responsible for Section II: from Shagamu to Ibadan.

“The Federal Government wishes to assure (Nigerians) that while it will continue to uphold the sanctity of contracts entered into by the Federal Government, it will not shy away from implementing provisions of the contract agreement dealing with non-performance on the part of the contracting party.

“The legal implications of this termination have been carefully considered by both the Federal Ministry of Works and indeed the Federal Government. If you recall we have been on this issue for quite some time now and we have meticulously followed the concession agreement, the provision of relevant clauses of the agreement.

“We have complied fully with the provisions of this agreement. We have had cause even in the past to write the concessionaire to detail the breaches which it had committed in this agreement in this particular transaction and we have also followed the minimum and maximum number of days the contractor was expected to remedy the situation but failing which the Federal Government had no alternative but to take this course of action,” he added.

The minister said since it was a concessional project, which was different from the normal EPC contracts, the Federal Government did not make any direct payment to Bi-Courteny.

He said the firm was expected to raise the fund from the private sector and apply it to the construction of the expressway and collect toll on it for 25 years, to recoup its investment.

This, he explained, had not happened.

“For your information, under this concession the construction period is supposed to last for four years and the four years will come to a close in about six months’ time and right now there is nothing on ground to suggest that the company is capable,” he added.

Onolememen said it was not out of place to give indigenous companies opportunities to handle projects of that nature.

But Kehinde said that government frustrated Bi-Courtney  from executing the project, adding that it took the government two years to approve the design of the project.

He also said that Bi-Courtney fought for a Right of  Way alone, just as government did not intervene in the battle it had with some South-West state governors in the struggle for the road.

“The Federal Government also made us to get the commitment of foreign firms for the project only for the Government to ask us to return to the old agreement and we had to bring in government contractors.”