Experts have told me that the bridge is not supposed to cost anything above N50 billion , going by Nigerian standard of cost inflation, including the 11 km access roads. However, this contract cost was doubled overnight to N117 billion naira to justify the financial heist on Ndigbo. The fraudulent construction will cost N117 billion for a 1.5 km bridge while the 1.3 km Lekki-Ikoyi suspension Bridge cost only N29 billion naira. Thus the thieves jerked the cost of constructing the 2nd Niger bridge to 4 times the actual cost just to justify the rape on the over grateful Igbo nation. Informed sources within Ohanaeze and among Igbo leaders and All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) have continued to echo that this 2nd Niger Bridge business venture is actually between Julius Berger, Ebele Jonathan and Peter Obi and that Mr Peter Obi’s 2nd Niger Bridge business venture will yield at least N12 billion naira annually. Reliable sources have revealed that whenever the bridge is finished, all heavy duty vehicles will pay N1000 toll fee while cars and mini buses will pay N500 naira. Tricycles will pay N200 while cyclists will pay N100 naira each time they pass through the bridge. This criminal toll gate will yield the corrupt business consortium and their secret sponsors about N1 billion monthly. This means that in 4 years, the thieves would have recovered N50 billion which is the actual over-exaggerated cost of constructing (going by the Federal Ministry of Works Corrupt Standard). Going by the Governor Fashola Run Lagos State standard, the bridge will not cost anything above N30 billion naira and thieves will take about two years plus to recover their investments and the rest 22 years will be excess profit. The financial interpretation of this criminality is that for 25 years with static revenue of N12 billion annually (ignoring the tendencies to increase the toll fee after 2 years) , the thieves will make N300 billion naira turnover with 250 billion naira as profit. This means that their investment is recouped within 4 years and the rest 21 years is profit. If the cost of such offshore long term cost is factored, usually 2.5 -5% per annum, and its future value for 25 years is factored, it cannot get any anywhere near N60 billion naira and yet the financial bandits are bandying N117 billion naira as cost of constructing the bridge. The implication is that some politicians within the presidency and Anambra State Govt House have done 419 on the Igbo nation and we are all smiling like charmed drunks. If the entire Igbo nation is charmed, I am not. God will definitely disgrace the thieves that want to put the Igbo race into a slavish bondage of paying through the nose for a Niger Bridge when all the rest of Nigeria, from Benue to Kogi , Calabar to Lagos,Maidugeri to Sokoto and all over Nigeria has bridges, dams, silos, roads etc built with Federal Government money while the defeated Biafran Igbos of South East will have theirs built and tolled for 25 yrs. Condemning the fraud called 2nd Niger Bridge, former governor of Anambra State and serving senator, Dr Chris Ngige said that “The first is that the bridge is being built on a Public Private Partnership(PPP) deal, with overseas financiers. For that reason, the cost of the bridge suffered double inflation, both from the Nigeria end and the financiers who alleged cost of fund. “The bridge, which should have cost N70 billion is now to cost N114 billion, that was why I told the South-East Senate Caucus that I was not going to be a part of it”. Ngige even got it wrong-the bridge should have cost between N30-N50 billion naira, and factoring cost of funds it should be t around N40-N60 Billion if PPP should be used. Ohanaeze and all Igbo leaders should condemn this enslavement of Ndigbo through this over-bloated and fraudulent construction of a bridge and must demand immediately the cancellation of this PPP Design, Finance, Build, Operate and Transfer model . Jonathan led Government should takeover the responsibility for the full construction of that bridge, and settle off the fraudulent consortium. This fraudulent 419 2nd Niger Bridge should be revised for a full scale Federal Government Built arrangement before another scandal erupts. Obinna Akukwe profetobinna2@yahoo
Posted on: Sat, 20 Dec 2014 10:03:20 +0000