The Rivers State Government has dismissed reports claiming that Julius Berger Nigeria Plc is withdrawing from its project sites in the state, calling the allegations false and misleading.
The denial comes after a viral report alleged that the construction company was pulling out due to unpaid contract fees owed by the state government.
In a statement released on Friday and signed by the Senior Special Adviser on Media, Hector Igbikiowubo, the government described the report as “malicious” and “a deliberate misrepresentation of facts.”
The statement said, “Under the leadership of His Excellency, Vice Admiral (Rtd) Ibok-Ete Ekwe Ibas, the Rivers State Government strongly condemns the misleading publication titled ‘Julius Berger withdraws from Rivers’ project sites.’
“The report falsely claims that Julius Berger Nigeria Plc has started withdrawing from project sites in Rivers State over alleged payment shortfalls by the government. This is a deliberate distortion intended to damage the administration’s reputation.”
The government emphasized, “Nothing could be further from the truth. Rivers State has consistently met all contractual obligations to contractors, including Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, which has received all payments due since the declaration of Emergency Rule in the state.”
Regarding the variation request, the statement revealed that Julius Berger demanded an additional ₦171.76 billion—an 87.77 percent increase on the original ₦195.7 billion contract for the Ring Road project—raising the potential total cost to ₦367.45 billion.
“The real reason behind this baseless misinformation is a campaign of calumny following failed attempts to pressure the Rivers State Government into approving an excessive and unjustified variation request for the Ring Road project,” the statement said.
It added, “The original contract sum for the Ring Road project was ₦195,695,980,239.61. Julius Berger submitted a variation request for an additional ₦171,755,448,105.05, representing an 87.77 percent increase in cost. If approved, this would push the total cost to ₦367,451,428,344.66.
“To prevent such unreasonable claims and protect the state from arbitrary variations, the Rivers State Government took a bank facility at the start of the project and paid a 77 percent advance of ₦150 billion to Julius Berger.”
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