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Imo Govt : We Bought Innoson Vehicles Worth N5b, Paid N3.5b So Far, 70% Already Broken Down
Imo State government says it bought vehicles worth over N5 billion from Innoson Motors, paid N3.5billion so far.
Says contrary to the claim of Innoson Motors, the said N2.5b is actually the balance due from the original value of the purchase.
Claims 70% of the vehicles have broken down due to Innoson’s refusal to maintain them, which was part of the agreement.
It noted that it was actually Innoson that breached the contractual agreement, regarding the maintenance of the vehicles.
Last week, Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company (IVM) filed a lawsuit against Imo State Government over an alleged refusal of the latter to pay or service a debt of over N2.5 billion for the purchase of vehicles and their parts.
Reacting to a threat, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Hon Declan Emelumba described claims by Innoson Motors that the Imo State Government is owing the automaker N2.5 billion as cheap blackmail.
According to him, the government truly bought vehicles worth over N5 billion from Innoson Motors and has so far paid them N3.5 billion. He added that contrary to the claim of Innoson Motors, the said N2.5 billion in the lawsuit was actually the balance due from the original value of the purchase.
Emelumba noted that it was actually Innoson Motors that breached the contractual agreement with the state government regarding the sale and maintenance of the vehicles.
According to Commissioner, there is a clause in the purchase agreement stipulating the siting of a maintenance and mobile workshop in owerri by Innoson Motors for the maintenance of the vehicles.
Emelumba noted that inspite of the fact that the company breached this agreement, the state government has been servicing the debt and still maintaining the vehicles. He further disclosed that more than 70% of the vehicles purchased from Innoson have already broken down due to the indigenous automaker’s refusal to maintain them.
“It appears the company is out to rubbish the integrity of the government, otherwise it would not have twisted the facts of the case and published same concerning this honest business transaction, even when it failed to show the public the terms of the contract and the clauses the government breached therein”.
Hon Declan Emelumba regretted that Innoson Motors had not actually exhausted all means of negotiation before threatening the government with a law suit.
He said :
“The mischievous resort to media trial has confirmed that the company is more interested in compromising the integrity of the government rather than being paid its outstanding balance from the contract sum”
The Commissioner disclosed that although no court process has been served, the Imo State government will meet the company in court as soon as a process is served.
