The former Commissioner for Works in Rivers State, Alabo George-Kelly says Governor Nyesom Wike’s administration awarded contracts worth over N700 billion naira and paid 99 percent of the contract sum.
Dr. George-Kelly, a loyalist of Wike, now the FCT minister, disclosed this in his response to a letter from a company demanding the payment of the outstanding balance for two projects it executed during Wike’s government.
In a telephone interview with Nigeria Info, the former commissioner acknowledged the contracts and the company’s existence but said the company was paid 99 percent of the N5.8 billion awarded for the projects.
He, however, admitted that five percent of the contract sum was withheld and kept with the Rivers State accountant general.
Dr. Alabo George-Kelly, now the Executive Secretary of the Border Communities Development Agency (BCDA), insisted the immediate past administration owes no contractor that finished its work.
Recall that Governor Siminalayi Fubara, during one of his commissioning functions, said his administration inherited a big debt from Governor Wike.
Last week, a letter from a construction company demanding payment of the outstanding balance for two projects it executed during the immediate past administration surfaced on social media.
The company said it built Ogbunabali internal roads and Ozouba-Rumuosi and Rumuokparaeli-Choba roads.
According to the letter, the firm is seeking Governor Fubara’s intervention for the payment of the outstanding balance.
The letter claimed the company is owed N264,742,965 for the Ogbunabali internal road constructed in 2017, and N202,330,955 for the Ozouba-Rumuosi-Rumuokparaeli internal roads project executed in 2016.
The Rivers State government is yet to comment on the issue.
The letter, as seen by Nigeria Info, was written to Governor Sinminalayi Fubara on 7 March 2024.
