Tony Akowe, Abuja
Last managements/ boards of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) issued certificates to contractors who did not complete their jobs, its Interim Management Committee Chairman, Dr. Joi Nunieh, said on Tuesday
Nunieh also told the House Representatives Committee on NDDC in Abuja, that the past boards hired fake international oil firms and duplicated contracts.
The NDDC boss, who was before the committee to present the commission’s N346, 513,046,220 budget for 2019/2020, disclosed that the management uncovered bogus claims on projects by various contractors.
According to her, many of the contracts were duplicated through federal and state agencies.
The commission, she promised would fish out persons that authorised or issued the certificates for the uncompleted contracts.
She said NDDC had also resolved to suspend all emergency contracts awarded by it in the past as most of them did not follow due process.
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Nunieh stated that the aggregate revenue inflow into the commission was N291.47 billion as at December 2018.
She said: “The overhead expenditure (personnel, recurrent and internal capital) elapses on December 31. A total of N35,079,320,850, representing 99.8 per cent, was spent.
“The capital expenditure (development project) lapsed in July 31, while N255,096,800,000, representing 82 per cent was spent during the year in review. The commission recorded 83 per cent on its performance for 2018.”
Chairman of the House committee , Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, who spoke after Arenyeka’s presentation, said the rot in the NDDC was depriving the people of development.
He directed the NDDC management to provide a list of all contractors owed, saying they will only be paid after the committee verifies them.
Tunji-Ojo said the NDDC must increase efforts to recover over N1 trillion it is being owed by various entities to help it offset liabilities.
He told the commission that they must also defray existing liabilities through diligent implementation of its 2019/2020 budget.
The lawmaker said it was unfortunate that the commission failed to fully implement its past budget due to widespread infractions by its former management.
He disclosed that the committee would soon present the investigative findings.
According to him, when approved by the House, all ongoing projects in the NNDC 2019 budget would be rolled over to the commission’s 2020 budget.
The chairman lamented that, due to the mess in the commission, the NDDC was already many months behind schedule in its 2019 budget implementation.
He advised the commission to lower its revenue projection as proposed in 2020 budget to make it realistic.
He warned against the suspension of emergency projects that meets the people’s immediate other needs.
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