Facts:

By an agreement dated 30th January 1998, the respondent was to execute works in respect of fast wall partitioning and fixing of suspended ceilings on the 1st to 5th floors of the applicants offices. The respondent was to start work on the 3rd of January 1998 and finish on the 31st March 1998 at a cost of N10,600,000 (Ten million, six hundred thousand naira). The scope of works of the contract was later varied in accordance with revised drawings prepared by an architect, on the instruction of the applicant, to include the purchase and installation of carpets, all of which led to an increase in the contract price from N10,600,000 (Ten million, six hundred thousand naira) to N11,236,700.00 (Eleven million, two hundred and thirty six thousand, seven hundred naira).