By; BAYO AKAMO, Ibadan
The Executive Chairman, Oyo State Universal Basic Education Board, (SUBEB) Dr Nureni Adeniran on Thursday warned that Oyo State Government will not hesitate to revoke non executed contracts on renovation and construction projects, under its 2012-2018 UBEC/SUBEB Intervention Project from defaulting contractors in the State.
Dr Adeniran handed down the warning in Ibadan while speaking with the twenty-two contractors handling the renovation and construction of the projects.
The Oyo SUBEB Chairman pointed out that this is in line with directives from the Universal Basic Education Commission, Abuja, adding that the contracts would be terminated following a breach of contract terms.
” We have issued several warnings, this is about the third time. We need to revoke the contract and give those that will do the job. The guideline is clear and we are not going to compromise,” he said
Dr Adeniran stressed that many of the contracts, including those awarded by the previous administration had been dragging since 2018, and that “this is in contravention of the time frame of the contractual agreement which stipulated two (2) weeks for completion of borehole and maximum of 24 weeks for completion of Model schools.
He maintained that Oyo SUBEB board would not hesitate to apply appropriate sanctions against the defaulting contractors, who have failed to meet project specifications in the execution of UBEC/SUBEB jobs in the State including making them to answer queries from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, after the November, 2021 deadline.
According to Dr Adeniran, such contractors may also risk being blacklisted by UBEC for further contracts of UBEC/SUBEB nationwide, saying, ” the message here is clear, the job has taken too long, your failure to deliver on the agreed dates is affecting the wellbeing of our children, we will reverse the contract”.
Frowning at the failure of the contractors’ to deliver results, despite the mobilization fee Government had given them Dr Adeniran said as part of concerted efforts to enforce standards, as well as ensure that there are only appropriate execution of projects, the Board in 2019 did not revoke their contracts, despite the fact that they were issued by the former administration.
