- Says NDDC Headquarters Not 95% Completed
By Gbenga Abulude
Another can of worms of alleged corruption has been uncovered by the Senate in the ongoing Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Probe.
The Senate has revealed that the head of the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of NDDC, Professor Kemebradikumo Pondei and other members of the Committee collected 20 per cent to 30 per cent of contract sums before contractors were paid.
This is contained in the report of the Senator Olubunmi Adetunmbi-led Ad-hoc Committee on Investigation of the alleged financial recklessness to the tune of N40 billion in the NDDC.
The committee report also indicated that the claim by the IMC and the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, that the Headquarters of the Commission had been completed to 95 per cent is false.
Read also: NDDC Probe: Akpabio Pressured Me To Take ‘Oath Of Secrecy’ – Ex-IMC MD, Nunieh [Video]
The Senate Committee in the report stated that the Chairman, Contractors Association of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mr Joe Adia disclosed this in a written submission to it.
The report read in part: “that the claim of the Interim Management Committee( IMC) of the NDDC of paying with less than N50 Million is totally untrue as there are over 500 transformer installation and payments less than N4.5 million that have not been made for over eight years is untrue.
“That the head of IMC- Prof Pondei and other members of IMC are now collecting 20% to 30% of contract sums before Contractors are paid.”
In Adia’s submission, the Immediate past Acting Managing Director of the Commission, Mrs Gbene Joi Nunieh had stopped all contractors from accessing the Commission till the completion of the forensic audit and this made it difficult for contractors to seek payment for projects they executed.
The report also stated that “the contractors that are paid were those that had access to the IMC and known to them and that the real contractors that did their job judiciously were not paid.
In another development, the Senate Committee was told through a written submission by a Civil Society Organisation, Act for Positive Transformation Initiative that an Engineering Company was awarded the contract of consultancy by the IMC on the campaign of awareness on the prevention of the spread of Coronavirus in the NDDC states which it said, was in contravention of the Public Procurement Law.
Read also: NDDC Crisis: Commission’s Finance Chief Who Died Strangely Wasn’t Fallen By Covid-19, Insiders Claim
According to the report, the claim by the IMC of awarding the Covid-19 intervention contract after the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari was not true.
The report added that “the IMC had awarded the contracts prior to the Presidential approval which is in total disregard of laid down procedures as the contract sum is above the board threshold.
“That the Presidential approval for the procurement of COVID-19 emergency contract was granted on 30th May 2020 whereas the contract was given by the IMC long before the approval.
“That most of the contract approval were done in shady manner and that some of the benefitting companies got 15% and above mobilization instantly after the approval of their contracts in less than 24 hours.”
Also in its written submission, Centre for Social Justice told the Senate Committee that the NDDC had never published a budget proposal in the hard or electronic copy to be made available to the public, as well as its Budget implementation report either on a quarterly, half-yearly or yearly basis and made same available to Nigerians.
The Senate had also asked President Muhammadu Buhari to as a matter of urgency, sack the Pondei-led IMC over alleged financial recklessness and constitute a new board for the NDDC.
On Tuesday, 5th May, 2020 the Senate began a probe into alleged financial recklessness to the tune of N40 billion by the Interim Management Committee, IMC of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC.
Consequently, the President of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan set up a six-member ad-hoc committee to carry out a holistic investigation on all issues relating to but not limited to the alleged misapplication and misappropriation of the sum of N40 billion by the Commission.
