“My friend, you are a bloody idiot! Patrick, I have to curse you. You are a bloody idiot. Do you know who you are even talking to? You are telling me you will take action if you don’t get the money… Take the action or you won’t see what you want. Let me see the best you can do. Rubbish!” the Lucky Unutovo Enigheno blurted.
November 2023. That was the first time High Chief Lucky Unutovo Enigheno, the Odio of Uzere Kingdom in Delta State, reached out to Patrick Ugochukwu, the founder of Lagos-based Greenhouse.ng, to know what it would take to have units of greenhouses installed on his farmland.
As a firm operating under the larger umbrella of Patrick Stone Ventures, Greenhouse.ng specialises in providing solutions related to greenhouse farming.
When Ugochukwu agreed to install three units of greenhouses for Enigheno, who is also the MD/CEO of Eluciano Oil and Gas Limited, in 2024, he never thought the contract would later come with disappointment and a barrage of insults.
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A picture of Chief Lucky Unutovo Enigheno obtained from his Facebook page.
Chats with the Odio
Chats with the Odio
Chats with the Odio
More chats
FIJ gathered that Greenhouse.ng was contracted to build three units of 8m by 27m steel greenhouse at the farmland located in Uzere. And, ahead of the installation, the firm embarked on a site and reconnaissance visit to the site on March 16.
“We charged the client N150,000 for this visit, covering logistics from Lagos to Warri and back, hotel reservation and a professional inspection fee,” Ugochukwu told FIJ.
The invoice for N150,000
The N150,000 payment receipt from March 14.
On Ugochukwu’s return to Lagos following the visit to the farmland, he sent a sales agreement to Enigheno as well as an invoice of N10.2 million on March 18.
A copy of the invoice made available to FIJ shows that a 50% payment was to be made upfront, 20% upon delivery of the first tranche of construction materials and a 30% balance upon delivery of the project.
However, the high chief gave Ugochukwu some conditions verbally that 70% of the sum would be paid when all the construction materials had been assembled inside a vehicle and verified by his friend, only known as Mr Razaq, who had travelled down to Lagos for that purpose.
Ugochukwu agreed to these conditions, and he received the 70% payment (N7,140,000) on March 26.
Invoice for the total contract sum
Continuation of the invoice showing the payment breakdown
70% payment on March 26.
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The contractor told FIJ that the three greenhouses were completed and became operational on June 4. But his 30% balance has been hanging with the client since then.
“By operational, I need to specify that all seedlings have been transplanted into the greenhouse as demanded by the client,” Ugochukwu told FIJ in July.
“Unfortunately, the client has shown a complete lack of empathy and disdain any time we ask for the balance. The last time we spoke, following 26 consecutive WhatsApp calls, as his Nigerian number is conveniently not reachable, he promised to pay on or before the end of July.”
FIJ understands that Ugochukwu’s balance was supposed to be N3.06 million, but he had asked Enigheno to deduct N60,000 as a refund for the additional fee the client paid in April for the recruitment of two farmhands who failed to show up at work.
While explaining why the client was to pay him N3 million instead of N3.06 million, Ugochukwu said, “When we resumed on the site to begin the greenhouse construction, he (Enigheno) called to say that his farm workers had absconded and that he’d need new farmhands and asked if we could help him secure an agronomist and two farmhands.
“I duly obliged and then charged him a fee for it. The agronomist is currently employed on the farm. As for the farmhands, only one showed up and then left a few days later. This is why I’ve asked him to deduct the N60,000 since that covers the fee that he paid specifically for the farmhands.”
The recruitment invoice.
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Screenshots of chats sighted by FIJ show that Ugochukwu had sent multiple messages and made several unanswered calls to the client from June 8 to request his balance.
Enigheno ignored most of his messages but promised to pay him by July, which he never did. When Ugochukwu threatened to take action against him, he not only dared but also insulted him, as heard in voice notes shared with FIJ.
This yet-to-be-paid N3 million has pushed Ugochukwu into a financial quagmire in the past two months. “We’re owing several vendors that supplied materials like steel pipes for this project. These suppliers are constantly on my neck because they think that I’m just outrightly refusing to pay their money,” he said.
When FIJ contacted Enigheno via a WhatsApp call on Thursday afternoon, he flared up, launched a verbal attack on Ugochukwu, dared the reporter to publish the story, and he ended the call.
“My friend, please, abeg, just get out(sic) of my phone. Don’t call me for that nonsense. He’s a stupid person. I am not in the country. What kind of nonsense is that? Talking to a journalist. Do you know who you are talking to? Go ahead and do your publication,” Enigheno said and then terminated the call.
The post ‘You Bloody Idiot!’ — Delta Chief Lucky Enigheno Curses Contractor He Owes N3m appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.