Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has urged the President-elect, Bola Tinubu, to amend the nation’s procurement law to address the issue of abandoned projects.
He noted that the 15 to 30 per cent mobilisation fee for contractors captured in the extant law slows down work.
In a statement after the inauguration of the Rumuokwuta-Rumuola flyover in Port Harcourt, the governor said the attendant inflation resulting in contract sum variations promotes massive project failures nationwide.
Against this backdrop, Wike said he had to work with the House of Assembly to amend the state’s procurement law for a 70 per cent mobilisation fee to contractors, noting that the move has since hastened the completion of projects in the state.
Earlier, the President-elect, in a lighter mood, told the governor to lobby him for a refund on executed federal projects.
He was responding to Wike’s request for the state to be reimbursed for some roads and infrastructure belonging to the Federal Government that were renovated and maintained by the state government.
While commending Wike for candour and performance, Tinubu dismissed the widely reported ‘I won’t pay’ story as misleading.
