…Vows to compel Defaulting Contractors to Payback collected Monies.
By Michael Odiah
The Delta State House of Assembly Committee on Works has vowed to be a beacon of hope for Deltans, stating that it is fully prepared to ensure that contractors who default in their projects duly payback deficits to the state.
Chairman of the Committee and Member Representing Ethiope East State Constituency, Hon Evance Ivwurie gave this confidence at the end of the third session of the ongoing probe of ULO Consultancy Limited which has been indicted by the Ministry of Works of executing poor jobs and swindling billions of Naira from the State Government.
Ivwurie while fielding questions from journalists said that despite the harsh economic recession in the country, the State Governor, Sen. Dr. Ifeanyi Arthur Okowa has dedicated N49bn in the 2018 budget to the Ministry of Works to ensure the metamorphosing of infrastructure in the state to greater heights taking cognizance of road networks across the urban cum rural parts of the state amongst others and that the committee is not ready to watch any contractor tarnish that effort.
Hon Ivwurie while expressing the grit of the committee to ensure the delivery of quality jobs across the state said, “this sojourn comes with lots of threats, harassments, embarrassments amongst others but we as a committee have vowed to become a beacon of hope for Deltans, to lay down our lives for Deltans and go out to inspect, evaluate and assess all contracts, and if in anyway any contractor is found wanting, such contractor will be made to make retribution to the state. This is the reason behind the recent investigations in the state as concerns projects to ascertain the monies paid to contractors alongside work done and further make their deductions thereby leading to a resolution which will be used to equip the government on whether to pay up a contractor or demand a refund for a contractor”.
The lawmaker further said that with the oversight functions vested upon them by the Federal Republic of Nigeria, it has been revealed that some contractors most especially ULO is overtly arrogant and very disrespectful to the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and that the committee is diligently following him up because the law is respecter of no one. “He is now very rich from the common wealth of Deltans after collecting billions of naira from the sweat and taxes of Deltans. He has no respect for the committee, does not want to make himself available and has appeared evasive”.
Hon Ivwurie reiterated that the committee is out for all contractors and not only ULO, but for all recalcitrant and arbitrary contractors cum capricious contractors who have no respect for the contracting policies of Delta State as a Government, who have no respect for constituted authorities in the state and have no respect for Deltans adding that they want to make sure that Delta State Indigenes and residents have value for their money because they pay taxes.
