The Minister of Works, Nweze David Umahi, has denied awarding ₦252.89 billion Abuja- Kaduna- Zaria-Kano highway road to Infoquest.
Naijaonpoint reports that Senator Umahi said the report from a national daily, Daily Trust, was an unwarranted, false, misleading, and damaging report
In a press conference held on Tuesday, the Minister of Works described as mischievous, insensitively misleading, and injurious the statement credited to him in the publication.
In a statement from his Media Aide, Orji Uchenna Orji; Umahi maintained that he was wrongly quoted to have said that Infoquest Nigeria secured a “no objection” of ₦252.89 billion from the Bureau of Public Procurement ( BPP) for the rehabilitation of a section Abuja- Kaduna- Zaria-Kano road.
He made it clear that the Ministry had no business relationship with Infoquest Nigeria Ltd.
He further made it known that the company that has a contractual relationship with the Ministry on the said project was Infiouest International Limited and that the company was corporately active and was absolutely in compliance with all legal requirements and regulations set by the Companies and Allied Matters ((CAC) Act.
He decried the mischief created by the publication as a deliberate orchestration by a cartel to malign the Ministry, undermine the efforts of the Renewed Hope administration in revolutionizing road infrastructure development and demarket the company that has proven capacity in road construction.
Umahi Demands Apology
The Minister of Works further demanded a public apology from the national daily to be published in at least 5 national dailies for unjustifiably publishing falsehoods against the Ministry.
The Minister also referenced what he described as the deliberate misrepresentation of facts contained in the sponsored publications made in several national dailies by Julius Berger Plc recently on the reason why they reneged in their contractual obligations in respect of the section of Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano road they were handling before it was determined.
He wondered why the coordinated onslaught of falsehood, blackmail, and gang-up by adversaries to the policy of government just because of the Ministry’s insistence on a new order of value for money, quality assurance and best practices in project pricing and execution.
He urged the public and the press to join in this desirable fight against national sabotage by some contractors.