Former Minister of Works, Mike Onolememen has faulted the media report allegation by Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole that N140billion was expended on consultancy services on the 2nd Niger Bridge Project.
In a statement issued by Onolememen’s Special Assistant on Media, Tony Ikpasaja, the former works minister accused Oshiomhole of deliberately misinforming Nigerians on the true status of the 2nd Niger Bridge.
He said, “Rather than give in to such mis- information and sensationalism, the completion of the project, vis-à-vis sustaining the interest of the international investors that have signified interests in the project should be paramount.”
Onolememen further disclosed that , “The 2nd Niger Bridge Project was procured as a Public Private Partnership project under the Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) model. This implies that the successful concessionaire, JB-NSIA Consortium has responsibility for the Design, Finance and Construction of the project, as well as its operation and maintenance for a concessionary period of 25 years.
“The total project cost is N108 billion (excluding Duties and Value Added Tax) with a completion period of about 48 months. This cost was arrived at, after BPP’S review of the Concessionaire’s submitted cost of N138billion.”
He therefore, challenged Oshiomhole to disclose the source of his information about his alleged N140billion-consultancy cost for a project with a total cost of N108billion. The Governor of Edo State has been boisterious of recent in accusing the past administraion of President Jonnathan of corruption.
