Kakatar CE layoff Over 1000 Workers due to Buhari’s Hostility

Kakatar CE Limited, one of the biggest in­digenous construc­tion companies in Nigeria owned by Mr. Azibaola Rob­ert, a cousin to former Presi­dent Goodluck Jonathan, has laid- off over 1,000 workers.

A source close to the com­pany said that the employees were dis­engaged in batches, first in June and last month follow­ing the company’s inabili­ty to keep” thousands of the workers who merely report daily without doing anything.”

Kakatar, checks revealed, is being owed over N10 billion by the Federal Government for vari­ous construction projects. On top of that, its accounts were frozen by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commis­sion (EFCC) in the wake of an investigation of the oper­ations of a sister company, OnePlus Holdings, over a $40 million pipeline securi­ty contract.

In the Federal Capital Ter­ritory (FCT) alone, Kaka­tar is building infrastructure for Maitama Extension and Kyami Districts, as well as the Karshi-Apo Expressway which is expected to help de­congest traffic into the FCT from the AYA/Mararaba axis.

Some FCTA officials said that the road project ought to have been completed by the sec­ond quarter of the year for commissioning by President Muhammadu Buhari.

One of them said: “Sadly, the huge debt owed Kakatar and several other companies operating in the FCT, coupled with the EFCC freezing of the company’s accounts, made work to come to an abrupt end around the end of April.”

The source, however, com­mended Kakatar for keeping its workers for several months, and for continuing work on projects long after other con­struction companies aban­doned their sites and laid-off thousands of workers.

The source lamented that Kakatar’s sack of the workers was bound to negatively affect the economy, saying, “this is one indigenous construction company that had begun giv­ing the so-called big names in the industry nightmares.”

When contacted, Kakatar’s Media Manager, Mr. Austin Ekeinde, said that the compa­ny is rationalising its oper­ations but declined to con­firm the number of workers affected, saying it was “man­agement’s economic decision.”

He said: “We are not the first construction company to lay off workers. Even banks have been disengaging their workers, so I wonder why this is of particular interest to your newspaper.”

On the alleged freezing of the company’s accounts, Ekeinde said he was unable to confirm the information but said that Kakatar has faced challenges from the EFCC on an issue that had nothing to do with it. He also confirmed that like several construction com­panies, the Federal Govern­ment was indebted to Kaka­tar, but declined to disclose the amount.

[Breaking Times]