By anthony anyawu
As the dust raised by the JPross Contract Scam and that of the Spanish Director of Hormipresa Nig Ltd is yet to settle, Imo State Chief Executive Owelle Rochas Okorocha is yet in another contract controversy over job awarded to another contractor, NNUTOUCH GLOBAL VENTURES owned by Chief Osita Okereke.
The contract which Trumpeta gathered is the Judicial Commission building along Umuguma General Hospital was awarded to NNUTOUCH Global Ventures at the cost of N1.3b in April 2012.
Reports available to this Newspaper has it that Governor Okorocha who expressed displeasure during one of his visits to the site that the contractor has not been able to do enough work on the project, threatened to revoke the contract and re-award it to another contractor.
Piqued by the alleged statement and threat by the Governor, the Chief Executive and Chairman of the Company, Chief Osita Okereke said that his Company will resist any attempt by the Governor to revoke the contract.
Chief Okereke told Trumpeta on telephone that Imo State Government is entirely responsible for the said delay in the completion of the said project.
He alleged that rather than release the agreed forty percent of the contract sum, that the state government only released fifteen percent amounting to N168 million.
Okereke further alleged that of the meager amount of money released, that Governor Okorocha went ahead to allegedly deduct the sum of N24.440 million as commission. Since the Governor took N24.440m as commission, the contractor argued how the Governor would expect the project to go on under the said circumstance when a reasonable sum has been yanked off from the amount released.
Although he confirmed to Trumpeta that based on the foregoing and his insistence, that the state government three months ago returned the whooping N24.440 million commission to his Company which has hitherto facilitated his going back to site.
“Since August 2012, no dime has been paid by the state government even after my company has given 40% APG to the Government. With the foregoing, it will be callous and inhuman for the Governor to visit the site and threaten to revoke the contract even when he is aware that the state government has not paid my company what is due to them. And have reneged on the contract terms”, Okereke maintained.
He opined that 15% of the total contract sum is not enough to further the project.
When contacted, the Special Assistant to the Governor on Media, Mr. Ebere Uzoukwa, described the allegation as laughable. He said, “I won’t want to join issues with a man whose character is well known to the people. The governor has never collected a dime from any contractor and will never do. He has legitimate means of making money. His businesses are still running. So if Okereke has any contract with the state government, he should execute it and stop beating about the bush or else we will expose him.”
