Indigenous Engineering Consultants Berate President Buhari Over Non-payment of Over 2 Billion Consultancy Fee

By Ayobami Agboola, Osogbo

Nigerian Indigenous Engineering Consultancy Companies have berated the President Muhammad Buhari-led government over non-payment of their consultancy fees and maltreatment by the Federal Government.

Indigenous engineering consultants said several indigenous engineering consultancy companies are owed well over N2 billion Naira for over three years and the owners and families are made to suffer by the President Buhari-led Government on Federal Ministry of Power, Works & Housing
road projects.

They further accused the Federal Government of giving priority to foreign contractors, as they were being paid regularly, while indigenous ones are left without being paid.

Speaking with journalists in Osogbo on Wednesday, Engr. Ishola Gbolagade lamented that despite the fact that most of the capital projects embarked upon by the present administration are
road construction projects, most of these road projects are being dominated by foreign contractors.

Engr. Gbolagade further explained that the main reason for non-payment of the engineering consultants is because their services have not been renewed, while the Contractor’s services are renewed, without any issues.

He lamented that: “And these consultants remain on the same site, along with the foreign contractors all these years. The main reason for non-payment to these consultants is because their services have not been renewed all these years, while the Contractor’s yearly services are renewed promptly. And the consultants are prevented from presenting invoices. On the other
hand, Contractors present certificates to the Ministry without renewals, and payments are made to them, without any issues. What an anomaly! How far, our dearly beloved country?”

“We can authoritatively say that the Federal Government through Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing owes several indigenous engineering consultancy companies over N2billion
Naira for over 3 years, and the owners and their families are made to suffer without payments for consultancy services rendered to the Ministry.”

“These consultants have relentlessly pursued their payments since late 2015, without any headway. Some have tried to appeal to these conscienceless Ministry officials all these years, through personal visitations to the Ministry, writing of letters of demand and use of intermediaries just to beg for their payments due to them, all to no avail.”

“The projects are primarily for road construction projects all over the country. On most of these projects, foreign contractors dominate and are enjoying it, while local engineers have been engaged for several years, as supervising engineering consultants.

“While Buhari’s Government
has continuously touted her achievements on road construction throughout the country, it is on
record that Nigerian companies have not fared well at all. They cannot deny this fact”.

“The multi-billion naira being spent on road construction are going to the foreign companies, while the local engineering consultants have been made to suffer for non-payments of much smaller amounts of monies on the same projects.

This is wickedness. The consultants have become bankers, as they are partly financing these Federal Government projects through rendering of services without payments. How can these people live with their consciences?” Do
they really have one? We have it on good authority that over 200 files belonging to local engineering consultants remain piled up and continue to gather dust at the Ministry, for several months.

Meanwhile, Ministry officials timely receive their salaries, in addition to other juicy monies from their various “deals” at the Ministry, and some of the Ministry’s officials through their cronies, have become Consultants and Contractors themselves. On those projects, timely payments are made. That is a story for another day.

“Sometime in 2018, The Honourable Minister of the Ministry, Babatunde Fashola (SAN), at a forum with engineering consultants proudly told his audience that the reason he had not made payments to consultants was because during site visits to some projects, he did not meet consultants.

“Did the Minister find out if his Ministry has renewed their services? But did that occur on all these 200 project files awaiting renewal of services and payments from your Ministry? And does that, in good conscience justify non-payments to consultants who were on sites during his visits, and have been there for over 3 years? Is this sufficient reason not to pay for services
rendered? Is this why these files transmitted to the Permanent Secretary, after so much “noise” from the consultants have been gathering dust at the Permanent Secretary’s Office? What a callous statement from a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria! In essence, the Minister has proudly presented himself as a villain. Obviously, this is not the Fashola we know. It is not a hidden fact that some of these Ministry’s officials, with little or no technical experience in road design and construction have succeeded in turning the Honourable Minister against these good engineers, in order to make sure that they continue their “deals. We have record of poorly designed projects by Ministry officials, in which they pocket the money!” he said.

“It is obvious from these actions and inactions that Nigerian families are being disenfranchised on these projects, and there are no plans to develop human capacities among Nigerian
Engineers. And what is the essence of the Executive Order signed in 2018 by the President toward full utilization of Nigerian Engineers? And we talk about developing this country and this
economy? Mr. President should be made to realise that utilisation of Nigerian Engineers without payments for services rendered, amounts to ZERO EFFORTS, ZERO NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND ZERO ACHIEVEMENTS!!! Month after month, and continuously, foreign
contractors smile to the banks, while our own Nigerian engineers are continuously left to complain of lack of payments.”