.......Super Highway Contract follows due process
Spoilers are integral part of any society or human coexistence, it is not strange when a man is making impact in any endeavour, such character rear their ugly faces to undermine such good works. That seems to be the exact situation in Cross River state where Governor Ben Ayade is frantically doing everything to improve the lives of Cross Riverians with the Super highway project. Suddenly, spoilers are everywhere in their determination to truncate the well-meaning project in the name of protecting the environment with pedestrian allegations of huge loans. BudgetITng is now a tool in the hands of some political interest determined to undermine good governance in Cross River state. In the same vein, Mr ODEY OYAMA, who is their partner in this their ungodly agenda to stop the actualization of the Super highway, is going about Shamelessly.
The Government of Cross State had clarified that the contract awarded for the construction of the Super High Way Signature Project passed through a transparent due diligence.
A statement by the Government explained that despite lies being peddled by some blackmailers in the name of Odey Oyama every standard due process was observed in the award of the contract.
“For the records, the project was advertised in the Cross River State Tenders Journal, The Nation and Vanguard Newspapers of Thursday March 22, 2018; Nigerian Chronicle of Wednesday March 21 to Tuesday March 27, 2018.
“There was also the board resolution for the expression of interest to bid and engagement of contractors on January 5, 2018.
“Funding for the project was also included in the 2018 state budget and captured in the Cross River State Chart of Account 2018 on Page 827. Additionally, the state executive council met and approved the project on May 30, 2018”.
The statement said “To ensure a transparent bidding process, critical stakeholders like civil society and non-governmental organizations and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) were invited to be a part of the process.
“It is imperative to mention that big players in the construction industry like Setraco, Julius Berger and China Railway Engineering were part of the process. The contract was however, awarded to the firm with the lowest responsible bid.
“So in terms of value for money, nowhere else in the world will the contract cost for a six lane, 274km superhighway, be lower than the cost for the Cross River superhighway”.
The statement further noted that “Odey Oyama, you no longer can blackmail Cross River Superhighway for a living. Apart from being a blackmailer, Oyama is also a hustler and scammer. A man with no visible and verifiable means of livelihood other than pranking media houses as self-appointed watch dog of Cross River rainforest.
Oyama has no qualms standing truth and logic on their heads provided such action earns him lurid monetary gains. At the last count, Oyama has held well over 50 press conferences, summits on the superhighway, with full expenses borne by his foreign paymasters.
Oyama also shamelessly engages in other survival strategies like sponsoring protests in the forest communities. This usually pays off through settlement with the communities by the state government with the self-anointed conservationist as the middle man in the settlement.
Oyama has for four years running turned the Cross River State superhighway project into his "oil bloc", spewing falsehood, raising false alarms and in the process mindlessly scamming unsuspecting foreign NGOs of millions of Naira.
Having failed to halt the project using dubious environmental concerns, Oyama has changed tactics. He is now spewing new lies about the Project by throwing mud at the governor and seeking to paint the picture of lack of transparency.
It should be clear to Oyama that his tricks are now old and therefore, easy to see through them. It is time therefore, for him to look for a decent means of livelihood as the days of blackmail for money are over. Crossiverians and the general public that go through the travail of spending over six hours instead of approximately four hours from Calabar to northern Cross River state due to the deplorable condition of the one lane Federal road understand that there is no justification for anyone to stand in the way of efforts of the governor, prof Ayade to construct an alternative road that is expected to shorten the journey from Calabar to Cross River north. Apart from the ease and comfort of the road, there's no alternative to the road as it will boost interstate commerce between Cross River state and Northern parts of Nigeria.
No comments:
Post a Comment