Omiete Blessing
As hearing continues in a Port Harcourt High Court on the N5billion contract case between the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) and an indigenous company Macobarb International Limited, the managing director of the firm, Shedrack Ogboru, has tendered 37 documents seeking to prove how the NLNG owed Macobarb N5.074bn.
The judge, Justice Chinwendu Nwogu, marked the documents in KJ series, but the defence said their objection to two of the documents would be submitted during address.
This is the highlight of the hearing in Suit No: PHC/2013/CS/2022), which began in Port Harcourt in September 2024, after two years of preliminaries and many amendments between both parties as well as frequent replacement of counsels by the claimant (Macobarb).
Some of the submissions and documents include the letter written by NLNG General Counsel (Company Secretary), Akachukwu Nwokedi, to Festus Keyamo’s Chamber which had stated that the contract between the NLNG and Macobarb Int’l Ltd had no provisions for standby payment.
Macobarb claimed that such a position by the NLNG legal department was the reason the NLNG refused to pay the claimant.
Macobarb tendered many documents and quotes from the contract to show that the contract had ‘stand-down payment’ provisions.
Also, Macobarb called in a forensic auditor to try to prove to the court that those contract classes existed.
Macobarb position in adopted statements and claims insisted that stand-down provision is plentifully provided for in the contract, one of which he said is on page 28, section 7, sub section 5(11).
This section states that; “In any and all situations, if NLNG fails to give Macobarb instructions or approvals (as in payment approvals) where the contractor has done his part by giving notification to the contract holder (NLNG), and several payment certificates have been generated by NLNG supervisory team for payment for work confirmed done, but such were ignored by the NLNG, and if this should lead to delay of the job on the part of the contractor, the contract shall be extended accordingly and whatever cost it created shall be paid by the NLNG.”
Macobarb told court that there is abundant evidence that it fulfilled this clause by notifying the NLNG about this development (contract payment failures).
Macobarb said in the statements that they relied on the position of the NLNG general counsel arising from this failure to amend its claim to N5.074 billion .
The claimant insisted that by defendant’s (NLNG’s) failures to honour the terms of contract closeout as signed by both parties on the said date, Macobarb has not been able to demobilize its equipment.
The forensic accountant thus relied on defendant’s failures to further calculate the liability they (NLNG) incurred by their own alleged negligence or other actions by detaining Macobarb’s equipment on their site indefinitely.
The claimant further stated in its claims that whereas the defendant insists it owed no money to Macobarb, yet, in the contract closeout of February 10, 2016, NLNG agreed to pay Macobarb for its 20 feet caravan, to also pay balance payment for turnstiles and vehicle barriers amounting to N38 million, but only paid N33 million.
However, the NLNG team of lawyers led by Prof Bayo Adaralegbe, began cross examination on November 1, 2024, and first dwelt on the eligibility of the CEO of Macobarb, Shedrack Ogboru, to be a joiner in the suit, asking to be shown where the contract provided for him to sue as an individual, to which Ogboru sited two sections.
Adaralegbe also pursued the angle of submission of ‘performance bond’ stated in the contract that should be done within 14 days of the takeoff of the contract, and tasked the claimant to show where he submitted the said bond.
Court adjourned till November 29 and December 2 and 3, 2024, for continuation of cross-examination.
