Innoson Motors insists Imo government owes them N2.5bn

Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company has insisted that the Imo state government has yet to pay the N2.5 billion debt for the purchase of its vehicles and parts.< /p>

Last week, the company said it had sued the state government in the Anambra State High Court over its failure to repay the debt.

He said the value of the debt, with a dollar value of $3.8 million, has now risen to around $6.3 million, pointing out that the value of money has gone down. depreciated by more than 40%.

But Imo State Information Commissioner Declan Emelumba later refuted the allegation, saying the company was concealing certain facts and trying to blackmail the state government.< /p>

He accused the company of intentionally refusing to admit that the government had made certain payments and that the amount claimed by the company was only a balance of the total cost of the vehicles purchased by the government.

“The truth is that the total value of the contract we had with them was over 5 billion naira, of which we paid 3.5 billion naira. So they are talking about the balance,” declared Mr. Emelumba.

Mr. Emelumba, in a statement on Sunday, said about 70% of the vehicles were broken down, alleging the company breached an agreement to set up a maintenance shop for the vehicles.

But in their reaction, Innoson Motors spokesman Cornel Osigwe in a statement on Monday accused the state government of trying to "water down the facts and substance" of the statement. allegation.

Mr. Osigwe denied the state government's claim that the contract was worth more than N5 billion.

He said the current debt was due after the company provided another set of vehicles in 2021, a year after the first transaction.

He said the latest supply was made “subject to the state government paying for the vehicles after delivery.”

He said the government had failed to pay the debt despite repeated pleas from some clerics and government officials.

“Going to court to collect the debt was the last option for us since the governor rebuffed all pleas made to him to pay us,” he said.

The spokesperson said there was no agreement with the state government on the establishment of a service center in the state.

He said the company has various vehicle service partners in the state where its vehicles are serviced and repaired.

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He also said that the company also has a unique mobile workshop that provides maintenance and servicing of vehicles to its customers.

"To the best of our knowledge, Innoson Vehicles has always serviced and serviced the vehicles supplied to the Imo State Government until the stage when the company decided to divest from servicing and servicing them due non-payment for used maintenance parts which exceeded N7 million,” he said.

"This particular debt among others is what Innoson Vehicles planned to recover from the court."

He also denied claims by the state government that he had serviced the debt, saying the government had not paid anything since the vehicles were delivered to them in April 2021.

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"There are several receipts of letters and messages sent to the state government and the governor appealing to his awareness that failure to pay this debt or its service will lead to the cessation of operations of Innoson Vehicles , not for once have we had any response of hope from the Governor,” he said.

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