7th April, 2016
Eromosele Ebhomele
The Lagos State House of Assembly has given a marching order to the Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area Council in the state to pay the sum of N2,899,917.51 to a contractor, Rem-Bam Nigeria Limited, being the outstanding payment on a contract awarded to the company.
The House approved this as part of the recommendations of a four-man adhoc committee led by Moshood Oshun, the lawmaker representing Lagos Mainland Constituency 2, to investigate a petition against the local government council.
Mr. Steve Adewunmi, the General Manager of Rem-Bam Nigeria Limited, had submitted that the council refused to pay the sum of N45,631,730.35 being the outstanding contract sum for the construction/rehabilitation of six roads by his company.
He listed the roads to include 311 road, Baft Club, Festac Town, 21 Road, 1 Close, Tantalizer, Festac Town, 322 Road (Barbados), Festac Town, 41/401 Road, Festac Town, and 4th Avenue (Service Lane), Festac Town.
According to him, the council awarded the contract to his company on a ‘Private Financed Initiative Agreement’ at the sum of N133,707,641.70 with a variation of contract to the tune of N19,023,909.33.
He said since the completion of the project, the council had paid N107,099,820.68 leaving a balance of N45,631,730.35 and that all efforts to get the money had proven abortive.
But Oshun noted that there was no documentary evidence to prove that the N19,023,909.33 proposed by the company as variation on the contract was approved by the immediate past executive committee of the council.
He also added that the statutory deductions of five percent Value Added Tax, five percent Witholding Tax and one percent Development levy, when deducted from the outstanding liability of N26,607,832.81 making the level of indebtedness of the council stand at N11,899,917.51.
The committee noted that sequel to its intervention, the local government council had on 6 january, 2016 paid N9 million with a current outstanding of N2,899,917.51.
Apart from the order to make the outstanding payment to Rem-Bam Nigeria Limited, the House also approved a recommendation that the council should ensure effective dialogue with contractors in order to resolve cases of outstanding payments on contracts.
The House also approved that the council should limit the award of contracts for projects to the resources available to it.