Benue Assembly orders termination of Aper Aku Stadium contract, demands refund

The Benue State House of Assembly has issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Commissioner for Youths, Sports and Creativity, Mr. Terkimbi Ikyange, to terminate the contract awarded to Monimichelle Sports Facility Construction for the renovation of the Aper Aku Stadium over alleged breach of agreement.

The Assembly also directed the State Attorney General to immediately initiate legal proceedings against the contractor to recover the funds already disbursed for the unexecuted project.

Speaker of the House, Mr. Aondona Dajoh, gave the directives on Tuesday after receiving reports from the Commissioner and the Attorney General. He decried the contractor’s consistent failure to appear before the House and its Standing Committees despite four invitations.

The Speaker further disclosed that the Assembly will petition the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate and prosecute Monimichelle Sports Facility for allegedly defrauding the state government.

In addition, the House ordered all Ministry of Works, Housing and Urban Development staff implicated in the alleged inflation of the contract sum to appear before it for questioning.

Earlier in his remarks, Commissioner Ikyange lamented that the contractor, despite receiving over N1.3 billion, had only completed approximately 40% of the work and had since abandoned the site, well beyond the two-month project timeline.

Supporting the move, the Solicitor-General, who represented the Attorney General, affirmed that the contract had legally lapsed due to non-performance and said the appropriate action was to terminate the deal and seek a refund.