An indigenous company, Messer Bolanle I Ogundele Ventures Kaduna, has appealed to Kaduna state governor, Dr. Uba Sani to intervene in a N14m debt case between her company and the state government contractor.
Chief executive of the company, Mrs Bolanle Ogundele, who made the appeal during a press conference in Kaduna, Sunday, alleged that a Kaduna state major contracting company, Messer Ronchess Global Resources Limited, has refused to pay the sum of over N14 million owed her company for the supply of materials since June 2022, despite repeated demands.
She said her company, Bolanle I Ogundele Ventures, supplied to Messer Ronchess Global Resources Limited, through a purchasing order, materials worth over fourteen million naira to the company since last year and the money has not been paid. The materials which included sharp sand, hard core granites and stone-base, were supplied and confirmed by the company.
Bolanle said the refusal of Messer Ronchess Global Resources Limited to settle the debt has exposed her to ridicule from those her company collected the materials on credit to carry out the supply.
“I am one of the suppliers in the ongoing project titled ‘Kaduna State Road Agency (KADRA) Urban Renewal Road Project’. I did the supplies for Zaria, Danbushia and Sultan Road projects, respectively,” Mrs. Ogundele said.
She explained that she instituted a civil case before a court to retrieve the money, but up till the time of the press conference, nothing came out of it, lamenting: “This is happening because I am a woman.”
Mrs. Ogundele said after Ronchess Global Resources Limited paid her company some amount of money in April last year nothing has been paid again to date.
“Last payment date was 15 April, 2022, with some amount left unpaid of an invoice dated 23 March, 2022, and we commenced new supply between 22 April, 2022 and 25 May, 2022, and up till date no payment was made,” she said.
When contacted, the Chief Executive Officer of Ronchess Global Resources Limited, Mr. Jackson Ukuevo did not deny owing the contractor but simply told our reporter that the civil case is before a court.