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By Akinwande Soji-Ojo
The President-General, Central Council of Ibadan Indigenes (CCII), Prince Oluyemisi Adeaga, has revealed that an N80 million debt owed the contractor building the multibillion naira palace of the Olubadan of Ibadan land stalled the progress of its construction.
Adeaga disclosed this while featuring on Saturday while featuring on South West Political Circuit, an interview programme on Ibadan-based radio station, Fresh 105.9FM.
The CCII president stated that the project was stalled for five years because the council was unable to pay the debt being owed the contractor.
He said on assumption of office as the CCII president, he envisioned how to raise funds to complete the construction of the building but his executive thought that the contractor would prevent further development on the project without first paying the debt. Adeaga added that the new executive under his leadership also reasoned that it was unwise to raise funds and use it to pay debt.
According to him, the council invited the contractor for a dialogue on the way forward. At the meeting, he said his team made the contractor understand its plight on the project, adding that his team also appealed to the firm to make some concessions in order to make progress possible on the project.
Adeaga recalled that members of his team made the company understand that whatever concession it made would be their own contribution to the development of Ibadan.
In the end, Adeaga said the company willingly wrote off the debt and even gave CCII the option of retaining it or engaging another builder to complete the project, without bitterness.
“They were happy to write off the debt as their own contribution to Ibadan’s developmen,” he said.
Building of the palace started in 2014 but stalled two years after. The council’s president at the time, Chief Bayo Oyero, had pledged to deliver the palace in 2018 but the debt made fulfilment of the promise impossible.
Adeaga, however, promised to deliver the project in 2023.