OYO State Government has reacted to The ICIR-funded report exposing how it awarded the construction of the Ibadan Circular Road project to a company with no prior road construction experience.
The report titled ‘Intriguing tale of Oyo’s N138 billion Circular Road contract award to a two-month-old company’ revealed sleaze in the procurement process, including covert ties between the parties.
The report also captures how the project awarded through the state agency, the Oyo State Investment, Public, and Private Partnership Agency, was mired in controversy, with allegations of irregularities in the procurement process and the contractors’ qualification and competence.
The project was designed as a public-private partnership (PPP) under a build, operate, and transfer model between the state government and contractor SEL-Vydra, with each party contributing a ratio of 20 to 80 per cent, respectively.
The first 32km phase of the 110km road project comprises a four-lane, dual-carriage motorway that links the Lagos-Ibadan expressway to the Ibadan-Ife highway, incorporating diverse features such as bridges, interchanges, streetlights, security posts, and other essential road infrastructure.
Reacting to this, the State Government averred that it awarded the contract at the said sum (N138.2 billion) to SEL-Vydra to construct the entire 110km stretch of Ibadan Circular Road.
However, it noted that it later revoked the contract.
In a statement on Wednesday, September 13 via X, the government revealed that the contract was revoked after recognising the contractor, SEL-Vydra, couldn’t “reach the milestones agreed.”
It wrote: “Thank you for bringing this to our attention @bigcullinan. @TheICIR, the Oyo State Government responded to this allegation in 2021. SEL-Vydra was a consortium of companies registered as a special purpose vehicle (SPV) for the purpose of the construction of the Ibadan Circular Road. The contract was awarded but the milestones agreed were not reached, so the OYSG revoked the contract and re-awarded it to Craneburg, which is currently constructing the road.”
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: umustapha@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M