The Nigerian Senate and Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, on Tuesday, settled a rift involving abandoned projects being handled by the construction giant.
The Senate later withdrew its warrant of arrest issued against the Managing Director of Julius Berger, Peer Lubasch, for failure to appear before its committee on works for explanation on abandoned projects .
DAILY POST recalled that the Senate on the 12th of December, 2024 issued a warrant of arrest against the Managing Director of Julius Berger Nigeria Plc ,for serially refusing to appear before its committee on Works.
The Resolution of the Senate on Warrant of Arrest against MD of Julius Berger, followed a motion moved to that effect by the Senate Minority Whip, Senator Osita Ngwu (Enugu West).
Ngwu in the motion co-sponsored by Senators Asuquo Ekpenyong (Cross River South) and Mpigi Barinada (Rivers South East) informed the Senate that Julius Berger Plc has blatantly refused to appear before the Senate Committee on Works for required explanations on projects abandonment and alarming contract variation from N54 billion to N195 billion.
But the Senate in plenary on Tuesday, vacated the warrant of arrest on the strength of written apology forwarded to it by Julius Berger.
The company Julius in the letter of apology addressed to the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, through the Chairman, Senate Committee on Works,
Senator Barinada Mpigi, apologised for failure to honour invitations sent to it due to leadership transition .
The letter dated January 10, 2025 and signed by Dr Peer Lubasch as Managing Director and Dr Abdulaziz Isa Kaita as Director Administration, reads in part: “We acknowledge receipt of your instructions regarding the investigative hearing on the Odukpani-ltu-Ikot Ekpene Road and sincerely apologize for missing the previous meeting due to miscommunication during
our leadership transition.
“Our new Managing Director, Engr. Dr. Peer Lubasch, had just assumed office and
was being briefed on ongoing projects.
“ We assure you of our utmost respect for the National Assembly and our commitment to collaborative governance.
“JBN remains committed to partnering with the National Assembly and Federal Government to deliver projects that benefit Nigerians, address infrastructural challenges, and create jobs.
“We assure you of our attendance at the next committee meeting and look forward to continued collaboration.”
In accepting the apology, senators at the plenary voted for its acceptance when put to voice votes by the Senate President.
JBN’s apology was also accepted by the Senate investigative panel.
The panel headed by Senator Barinada Mpigi, also collected the written apology from Julius Berger but admonished the construction giant not to allow issues between it and relevant authorities to degenerate to the level of project abandonment and arrest warrant issuance.
The MD of Julius Berger in his explanations to the committee, informed it that slow payment of advances on awarded contracts and cost variation etc., created misunderstanding between the company and Federal Ministry of Works.
“JBN has an unquestionable track record of consistency on quality projects execution and delivery in Nigeria since 1965 with over 10,000 workforce now and more than 150, 000 indirect workers,” he said.
The committee promised it would resolve the disagreement between the construction giant and the Federal Ministry of Works.
Senate, Julius Berger settle rift over abandoned projects in Nigeria