N1billion loss: Entrepreneur accuses NLNG of vindictiveness

An indigenous contractor, Macobarb International, has cried out that the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), has liquidated his business through  alleged suppression and vindictiveness,  leading to the termination of its contract and outrageous debts. 
The entrepreneur and owner of Macobarb International, Shedrack Ogboru, who said he did business with NLNG under ‘minor civil contractor’ category, told journalists in Port Harcourt, Rivers State,  that his firm is now heavily indebted.
Ogboru disclosed that he owes a commercial bank N68 million loan obtained since 2014, to execute the first phase of the job which turned into a protracted debt with accumulated huge interest due to NLNG’s refusal to make payment.
He said the failure of the company to honour payment schedules without any reason led to his company being blacklisted by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for bad debt  owing to contract liability of N1.147 billion that the multinational firm (NLNG) refused to pay to this moment.
Ogboru wondered if the NLNG would do this to any foreign company that did not do anything wrong, at a time the Federal Government is striving to assist indigenous businesses to get ahead.
Narrating his ordeal to newsmen, Ogboru said his firm, Macobarb, got a job on January 9, 2014, to fabricate and install world class access entry system called ‘Integrated Turnstiles and Vehicle Barriers System” that must be fabricated in Europe for security and seamless entry into the world class facilities of the NLNG.
He said,  the contract worth N95 million, was to be executed in phases supervised by a team of experts and engineers from the NLNG.
Ogboru said the contract term insisted that there would be no mobilisation fee or upfront payment, but that each milestone executed and certified by the supervision team that included expatriates, would not be delayed in payment, so as to move to the next phase.
He said the agony was that the contract terms insisted that the staff and equipment procured for the project must never be removed from site nor be used to do any other job until completion of project, except with express approval in writing by the NLNG.