The Abia House of Assembly has threatened to terminate its contract with Innoson Vehicles Manufacturing Ltd for allegedly failing to fulfil its agreement to produce vehicles for all the lawmakers.
The Speaker of the House, Rt Hon. Emmanuel Emeruwa announced this on Thursday in Umuahia during a media interaction marking the one-year anniversary of the 8th Assembly.
Emeruwa expressed regret that members had not received their vehicles a year after their inauguration. He noted that the preference for Innoson vehicles was driven by Governor Alex Otti’s initiative to promote local products. Emeruwa stated that Innoson had received full payment to produce the vehicles but had failed more than 10 times to deliver them.
He stated, “So far, Innoson has not been able to produce or perform its own side of the agreement. At this point, we are on the verge of terminating that contract and asking for our money back if he doesn’t perform within the next 15 days. This house is very serious about it and they cannot continue pacifying us after one year,”
Scorecard of State Assembly
Presenting the one-year scorecard of the 8th Assembly, the Speaker announced that five out of 15 bills had been passed into law. He highlighted that the House had also made 40 resolutions, received 46 petitions, and handled 55 motions.
He emphasized the Assembly’s high level of activity, expressing confidence that even more would be accomplished by this time next year. The Speaker also noted the peaceful nature of the 8th Assembly and its positive relationship with the Executive.
What you should know
The government of Abia state entered a partnership with Innoson Motors where it purchased most of the vehicles used by the state’s government officials- a move aimed at promoting local production in the auto industry.
- The partnership led the Governor of Abia state, Dr. Alex Otti to ask the Chairman of the company to establish another vehicle manufacturing plant in the state.
- Innoson vehicles usually generate the bulk of their revenue from contracts to governments and corporate organisations rather than B2C. The company since the administration of President Buhari has enjoyed significant federal government support through purchases of vehicles for Ministries and government agencies. Even the military is not left out as the Army has made notable purchases from the company.
- The company has also made international sales with other sovereign governments in Africa with the purchase by the government of Sierra Leone a notable example.