Adesoji Akanni (not real name), an Ogun State-based interlocking installer, has accused Remi Kazeem, a Lagos-based engineer, of refusing to pay him the sum of N150,000 after he completed a job for him in February.

Akanni told FIJ that Kazeem had assured him that he would be paid in full once he completed an interlocking job he hired him for at a construction site in Ikorodu.

He said Kazeem owed him N50,000 from a previous service, and that he chose not to demand for it so he could get more future jobs from him.

The craftsman said that when work commenced on the site in October 2021, the price of cement had increased from N2,900 to N3,900, leading to a significant change in the job quotation.

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“I had paid a supplier for 50 bags of cement at the rate of N2,9000 when I commenced work at the site. However, as work continued, and after I had only used 15 bags from the 50 I had paid for, the supplier returned the sum for 35 bags to me, saying she would run at a loss if she continued to sell to me at N2,900. She said the price was now N3,900,” he said.

Akanni said he told Kazeem about the price change, and that he might also have to stop work on the site because of the unfavourable development, but the engineer persuaded him to continue.

“What we agreed on as my fee was N900,000. At that time, he paid N800,000. He then promised to add the N50,000 he was initially owing me from the previous project to the N100,000 balance I was expected to get later. We agreed, so I continued the job,” he said.

“While I continued the job, I paused for a week to attend to a personal matter, but he would later use the one-week absence to justify not paying me.”

Akanni said after he completed the job in February, he informed Kazeem and promised to pay up his balance upon supervising it. He also said that after Kazeem supervised the job and deemed it completed, ”he began to tell him stories”.

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According to Akanni, Kazeem first said he was not able to get more funds from the owner of the building but later came up with other excuses.

“He has supervised the site since February but has refused to pay me my balance. He only paid me N800,000. He has refused to pay me the N100,000 balance and the N50,000 he was initially owing me,” Akanni said.

“I recently reached out to one of his close friends to help me beg him so he could pay me my balance. I even took a loan to get the job completed. Now, he no longer takes my calls.

“He told his friend that he would delay the payment because I was absent from the site for a week. But this is August. He has delayed the payment since February.”

FIJ made several phone calls to Remi Kazeem for comments on the issue, but he did not take them. He had also not responded to a text message sent to him at press time.