Contractor sues FG over Jonathan’s N9.2bn stoves

A contractor handling the N9.2billion worth of
clean cook stoves and wonder bags awarded by
the administration of former President, Goodluck
Jonathan has sued the Federal Government.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment,
Fatima Mede, revealed this to State House
correspondents on Tuesday shortly after briefing
President Muhammadu Buhari of the ministry’s
activities inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Mede said the contractor approached the court to
order the government not to terminate the contract
following the emergence of a new administration.
The Jonathan-led Federal Executive Council had on
November 26, 2014 approved N9.2billion inclusive
of Value Added Tax for the procurement of 750,000
units of clean cook stoves and 18,000 wonder
bags.
The contract was awarded to Messrs Integra
Renewable Energy Services Limited and there have
been several calls on the present administration to
terminate the contract.
Confirming the legal action, Mede said the ministry
had briefed the Office of the Attorney General of the
Federation on the development.
She said the government would appear before the
court to argue its case, however, she did not say if
there were plans to terminate the contract.
She said
“The matter is in court right now, so there is a
limit to how I can talk about the issue of
cooking stoves.
“The contractor took government to court
asking the court to grant an injunction for
government not to terminate the contract.
“We will go there and argue our case, the
government will go, we have briefed the
Attorney General’s office.
“We will present our case on the issue that led
to the contractor taking us to court, it will be
explained and the court will decide.”
Mede said during her team’s meeting with Buhari,
the President raised concerns over environmental
degradation in the country.
She said the President was aware that the
sustainability of the country would depend on how
well the environment was managed and that the
rate of desertification and afforestation in the
country was alarming. Stating that over 43 per
cent of Nigerians were affected by the effect of
desertification.
The Permanent Secretary also pointed to the
conflict between the herdsmen and farmers
because of forced migration.
She said the President had directed that to reduce
the rate at which wood was being cut down for
cooking, the ministry should consider promoting
the use of LPG especially in the cities.