Rivers State Sole Administrator, Vice-Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas (rtd), has rejected an outrageous variation by Julius Berger to increase the cost of delivering the popular Ring Road Project from N195.3bn to N367.5bn.

It was gathered that when Julius Berger presented the variation, Ibas kicked against it, describing it as a rip off and unreasonable, vowing to protect the resources of the state.

The 62.640km Port Harcourt Ring Road, was conceived as a big ticket project by the administration of the suspended Rivers Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara and was flagged off by Fubara’s predecessor, Chief Nyesom Wike on July 19, 2023.

To avoid a variation, Wike on the day of inauguration announced that 77 per cent contractual sum amounting to N150bn had been paid to Julius Berger out of the N195.3bn total sum.

Julius Berger was expected to complete the project, which was designed with six flyovers, one river-crossing bridge and 19 rotary intersections and roundabouts within 36 months.

It was gathered that midway into the project which was expected to be completed in July 2027, Julius Berger forwarded a variation request demanding an additional N171,755,448,105.05bn representing an 87.77% increase in project cost.

It was learnt that if approved, such variation would raise the total project cost to a staggering N367,451,428,344.66billion.

But Ibas totally rejected the move and insisted that Julius Berger, that designed the project with the timeline must stick to the terms of the project, which has an outstanding payment of about N40bn.

The rejection reportedly led to different narratives with some of them suggesting that the construction company had pulled out of the site of the project because Ibas refused to fulfill the government’s obligations.

Confirming the development yesterday, Ibas denied the claims against his administration.

Ibas, in a statement signed by the Senior Special Adviser on Media, Rivers State Government, Hector Igbikiowubo, strongly condemned the claim describing it as misleading and malicious.

The statement said the insinuation came from a publication titled ‘Julius Berger withdraws from Rivers’ project sites’, authored by one Bertram Nwannekanma.

He said the report, which falsely claimed that Julius Berger Nigeria PLC had begun withdrawing its services from project sites in Rivers State following alleged shortfalls in payments by the government, was a deliberate misrepresentation of facts and a calculated attempt to tarnish the reputation of the administration.

The statement said: “Nothing could be farther from the truth. The Rivers State Government has consistently and dutifully met all its contractual obligations to contractors, including Julius Berger Nigeria PLC, which has received all payments due since the declaration of Emergency Rule in the state.

“This baseless report is nothing more than a campaign of calumny orchestrated after failed attempts to pressure the Rivers State Government into approving an exorbitant and unjustified variation request for the ongoing Ring Road project”.

“The original contract sum for the Ring Road project was N195,695,980,239.61 billion.

“Julius Berger submitted a variation request demanding an additional N171,755,448,105.05 billion, representing an 87.77% increase in project cost.” If approved, this would raise the total project cost to a staggering N367,451,428,344.66 billion. (The Nation)