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Tag: NDDC

  • Former NDDC Acting MD, son, die in auto crash

    Former Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Pastor Power Aginighan, is dead.

    Aginighan, a chieftain of the Delta state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the leader of the Ijaw elements within the party, reportedly lost his life in a ghastly road accident around the Mbiama end of the East-West Expressway on Friday.
    Also killed in the accident were his son, identified as Tammy, and his police escort, whose name could not be confirmed at the time of filing this report.
    Although the details of the time and the spot of the road where the accident occurred could not be ascertained at press time The Nation gathered that vehicle conveying the deceased was crushed by a trailer, leading to an inferno, which burned the victims beyond recognition.
    Confirming the sad news, the state Treasurer of the APC, Hon Ebiakpo Ezebiri, said the incident happened on Friday, adding that leaders of the party had been trying to reach the deceased all through the day, but he was unreachable.
    “We were together on Thursday when we hosted Professor Utomi. People were trying to reach him yesterday to get his attention on some matters, but he was unreachable, nobody knew he was dead. The accident happened during the day, but since they had been burnt beyond recognition, nobody could have known who was involved.
    “He was in the vehicle with his son and his police escort when the accident happened just after the Mbiama bridge. Some of our people have already gone to the scene of the accident to retrieve the bodies. We are in mourning, this is very painful,” Ezebiri said.
    It would be recalled that the Ijaw elements of the APC, just over a week ago, conferred the leadership of their stock in the party on Aginighan.
    Efforts to get the police to confirm the incident was unsuccessful as the state command’s spokesman, DSP Andrew Aniamaka, was unable to confirm.
    He, however said he would link up with the Bayelsa state command to get feelers.

  • NDDC expresses dismay over blockage of office

    The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) was dismayed over disruption of activities at its headquarters in Port Harcourt yesterday by officials of the Rivers State Internal Revenue Service (RIRS).

    Speaking on behalf of NDDC’s Managing Director, Dr. Nsima Ekere, the Special Assistant on Media, Chijioke Amu-Nnadi, said  the commission was surprised by the development, “because the commission had already begun paying the Revenue Service the arrears under question.”

    Amu-Nnadi explained: “About two weeks ago, the commission met with the tax enforcement team and started negotiations to resolve all outstanding issues. We understand that there is a court order. But it’s important for us to state that the commission, as a responsible corporate organisation, had begun to attend to all obligations as agreed.

    “Last week, the commission paid the first tranche. They will receive the next tranche this week. This is a sign of goodwill and commitment on the side of the commission to meet these obligations.”

    Mr. Amu-Nnadi decried the actions of the RIRS officials, noting that blocking the premises of the commission was an unnecessary embarrassment and does not match the commission’s goodwill.

    “It is very surprising that even though we have begun paying these arrears dating back to 2013, which the current board inherited, we still have to deal with this little impasse. And mind you, over the past two years, the current Board has paid all the Commission’s tax obligations as at when due.”

    Mr Manson Endeboh, the RIRS director, who led the enforcement team, said the tax agency sealed the NDDC headquarters for allegedly owing the state withholding tax.

  • NDDC won’t be distracted, says agency

    The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) yesterday said it will not be distracted from performing its functions.

    It said in spite of spirited efforts to pull down its leasdership, the organisation would continue to deliver on its mandate.

    In a statement yesterday by Abosede Ibitoye, its director of corporate affairs, the NDDC accused the Akwa Ibom State Government of commisioning “some hatchet-men who operate under the guise of questionable NGOs to throw mud at, and spread malicious lies about the NDDC, its executives and the APC- led Federal Government.”

    The statement said:  “a photoshopped image of a road project, which had been circulating online for months, was fraudulently and falsely represented as an NDDC project, in a bid to create the impression that the Commission’s road projects are executed without recourse to basic project standards.

    “Since the current Governing Board and Executive Management assumed duties in November 2016, we have received the most sustained and unwarranted attacks from Akwa Ibom State.

    “While we encourage scrutiny and objective criticism, geared towards ensuring that we offer the best service to the Niger Delta region, these constant, vicious and virulent attacks, deliberate distortions, falsehood and open confrontation, driven by political scheming, have become distractions that the region and our people cannot afford at this time. “

    The organisation said as an intervention agency, it is not in competition with any of the nine state governments of the Niger Delta region, adding: “Our mandates are different, but equally important and desperately urgent.

    “We ask that the Commission and its representatives be allowed to focus on the onerous responsibility of developing the region. We believe that there is no reason to poison the chalice, because our people drink from it.

    “The entire Niger Delta region is in dire need of rapid, even and sustainable development. That is our core Mandate. That is our primary focus. That is why we are more concerned about governance, which impacts positively on the people, than divisive and fraudulent politicking.

    “Through our structures, we have extended our hands of cooperation and partnership to all the nine Niger Delta States.

    “Our footprints in Akwa Ibom State are obvious in keeping with the mandate of the current Board to ensure that the state enjoys the largest share of NDDC projects as the leading oil producing state in Nigeria.

    “We have extended our hand of friendship to the Akwa Ibom State Government on many occasions, as we have done with other State Governments. Indeed, our partnership with other State Governments has yielded important projects, such as the construction of the 50-kilometre Akodo-Araromi/Ibeju-Lekki Road, connecting Ondo and Lagos States, being funded by the Commission and Ondo State Government. We do hope that Akwa Ibom Government will see reason why it must open the door to NDDC as a credible development partner, rather than continue to demonize it.”

    The statement adde that there is a lot that Akwa Ibom State could benefit from working with the NDDC as partners, “We have reached out in many ways to the State Government to support its programmes for the benefit of its people. Ignoring such opportunities remains a major loss to the State.”

  • NDDC resumes foreign scholarship scheme

    Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) says it has concluded plans to resume its Post-Graduate Foreign scholarship to qualified indigent youths in the Niger Delta.

    Mr Ibitoye Abosede, NDDC’s Director of Corporate Communications, announced this in a statement in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.

    He stated that the Governing Board and Management of the company had met and approved the commencement of the 2018 award process worth about 30,000 U.S. dollars per annum.

    He noted that the programme was cancelled earlier to allow the commission to carry out comprehensive restructuring of the scheme.

    He stated that “NDDC regrets the cancellation of the inconclusive 2017 award process and the inconveniences suffered by students who applied for the scholarship.

    “To this end, all outstanding tuition for recipients of the scholarship have been cleared. This is to provide a fresh start and a seamless process.

    “However, any student who has proof of non-receipt of payment should feel free to contact the commission immediately.”

    Read Also: NDDC Resumes Post-Graduate Foreign Scholarship Programme

    Abosede explained that the scheme covered disciplines in engineering, medical sciences, computer science technology, geosciences, environmental sciences, agriculture, environment, oil and gas law and project management.

    He added that advertisement for the scholarship would be published in national media and the commission’s website.

    Established in 2010, the scholarship is designed to produce top level professionals with technical manpower, capacity and expertise to compete in oil and gas industry and in other sectors.

    So far, 1,409 students have benefitted from the programme, including Charles Igwe, whose unique redesign of the Turcot Interchange road saved the Montreal Area Municipality (Canada) over one billion dollars.

    Igwe is a Ph.D student of Construction Engineering at Concordia University in Canada.

    Similarly, Mr Ubong Peters won a global three-minute thesis competition.

    The NDDC spokesman, therefore, urged interested and qualified candidates to take advantage of the opportunity to apply for the foreign scholarship.

  • NDDC to complete work on Akwa Ibom road

    The construction work on Hospital Road, a major road in Abak Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State that was ravaged by gully erosion, is to be completed in one month by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

    The Managing Director of the commission, Mr. Nsima Ekere, announced this at the weekend while inspecting work on the road which was split into two and rendered impassable by the gully erosion.

    He expressed satisfaction with the pace and quality of work by the contractor who, he said, had assured him of work completion within a month.

    Ekere disclosed that the Hospital Road construction was just one of the several intervention works NDDC was carrying out in Akwa Ibom State and the rest of the Niger Delta region.

    He said the new spirit of NDDC was centered round using indigenous contractors who were well-supervised to deliver world-class projects executed according to specifications.

    The NDDC boss commended the host community for co-operating with the contractor which has enabled the acceleration of the work.

    A former Minister for Petroleum Resources, Atuekong Don Etiebet, who accompanied Ekere on the inspection visit, lauded him for the good work he was doing at NDDC.

    He commended the contractor for embarking on proper channelization of rain water in the area and donated one million naira to the community for co-operating with the contractor.

    The Village Head of Midim, Chief Edet Ikpe, was full of praises for the NDDC boss for rescuing them from the plight of a collapsed road.

    He presented a symbolic sword of authority in appreciation to Ekere.

    Also on Ekere’s entourage during the inspection visit was the Managing Director of Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority, Mr. Umana Umana.

     

  • ICPC charges NDDC boss, Ekere for allegedly frustrating investigation

    The Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) has filed a charge against the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Nsima Ekere for allegedly frustrating its investigation.
    The charge marked: CR/187/18 was filed at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and signed by a senior prosecuting officer with ICPC, Osuobeni Ekoi Akponimisingha.
    The ICPC, in the two-count charge with, NDDC and Ekere listed as defendants, accused Ekere of frustrating its investigation into some projects executed by the NDDC.
    Particularly, ICPC accused Ekere of refusing to honour invitation/ request for documents on the construction of Umuihe-Odo-Umuanya Road, Umuahia South Local Government Area of Abia State.
    The Nation learnt yesterday, that although the charge has been assigned to a judge of the court, a date is yet to be fixed for arraignment.
    The charge reads:  That you Mr. Nsima U. Ekere Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), sometime in the month of March 2017 or thereabout, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court wilfully refused to honour a lawful invitation/request for document through a letter reference lCPC/ CH/ CSU.MS/170/ 2017, dated March 9. 2017 and received on March 16. 2017 by the independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) in respect of investigation activities on the project file(s) on the construction of Umuihe-Odo-Umuanya Road, Umuahia South Local Government Area of Abia State and you thereby commuted an offence contrary to and punishable under section 28(10) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act. 2000.
    “That you Mr Nsima U. Ekere Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and Niger Delta Development Commission, sometime in the month of March 2017 or thereabout, within the Jurisdiction of this honourable court, conspired to frustrate investigation  activities of the Commission (ICPC) by wilfully refusing to honour lawful invitation/request for document through a letter reference ICPC/CH//CSU, MS/170/2017 dated March 9, 2017 and received on March 16, 2017 by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) in respect of investigation activities on the project file(s) on Umuihe-Odo-Umuanya Road, Umuahia South Local Government Area of Abia State and you thereby commuted an offence contrary to Section 20(c) and punishable under Section 15(c) of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act. 2000.

  • Edo Assembly summons NDDC commissioner over abandoned road projects

    The Edo House of Assembly on Wednesday summoned the Commissioner representing the state in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) board, Mr. Saturday Uwuelekhue, over abandoned road projects in the state.

    The Speaker of the Assembly, Kabiru Adjoto, directed the commissioner to appear before the house on May 28 with a list of all ongoing projects in the state.

    Adjoto said Uwuelekhue should appear with the details of the projects included in the state 2018 budget.

    The Majority Leader, Roland Asoro, had earlier moved the motion and was seconded by the Deputy Speaker, Victor Edoror.

    Asoro said there was need for the NDDC to rehabilitate the Benin-Abraka road and the commissioner should appear before the House to explain this.

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    He said the Benin-Abraka road leading to some communities in Orhionmwon area of the state had deteriorated, making it impossible for farmers in the area to move their produce to the city.

    “The aim of the Commission is to develop the Niger-Delta region and rehabilitate the roads. Several road projects embarked upon by the NDDC have been abandoned.

    ” For the past four years, the road has been in bad shape. The road also connects Edo and Delta States,” he said.

    NAN

     

  • Buhari approves five new appointments for NDDC, NERC, NHRC

    President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the appointment of five new executives for National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).

    Mr Olusegun Adekunle, Permanent Secretary, General Services Office, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF), made this known in a statement yesterday in Abuja.

    He said the president made the appointments following their confirmation by the Senate.

    According to him, Mr Anthony Ojukwu from Imo State is the new Executive Secretary, National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) with initial term of five years.

    “Mr. Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa, who hails from Ondo State, is the new Executive Director, Niger Delta Development Commission(N with initial term of four years.

    “Hon. Chika Ama, Nwauwa also from Imo State has been appointed the new Executive Director, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) also with initial term of four years.

    “Mr Nwogu N. Nwogu from Abia State is the new Executive Director, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) with initial term of four years.

    “And Prof. James Momoh from Edo State is the new Chairman, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) also with five years initial term.”

    The president directed that the appointments should take immediate effect.

  • How we cleared deficit and improve service delivery, by NDDC boss

    The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Nsima Ekere, has explained how his leadership has repositioned the agency for better service delivery. He speaks on several issues, including his gubernatorial ambition. WALE AJETUNMOBI reports.

    Reforming modus operandi

    The greatest challenge that NDDC faced under my tenure is the over training the commission had been involved with before we came on board. The balance sheet of the commission is over-bloated. In fact, the auditor’s report for last year stated a contingent liability of N1.7 trillion. In the course of previous year, we had to determine sustainability of some projects; we had to terminate non-performing projects in two tranches. In the first tranche, 624 projects were terminated. The projects we terminated in the first tranche were worth over N200 billion; while the second also ran into multi billion naira. We have been able to reduce the deficit in our balance sheet by about N300 billion since we came in. This is one of the reforms agenda we articulated when we came on board. We called the reform 4Rs, which is geared towards turning around the balance sheet of the commission and reduce new commitment and liabilities we create. We dedicated 70 per cent of our budget to complete ongoing projects, while we reserve 30 per cent to cater for overhead cost and new projects. This is deliberate, because there is no point to recreating new liabilities when there is no money we can use to take care of them. We want to use most of the money that comes in to service ongoing projects. The second “R” in our reform agenda is to restructure the governance system of NDDC. We want the commission to known as an organisation that respects laws and governance policies. We want to put a culture of due process in place. Before now, anything could happen in NDDC. We had a retreat when came on board. One of the facilitators, Dr. Joe Abah of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms said when they did a review of NDDC, it was discovered that everything that could possibly be wrong with an organisation was wrong with NDDC. That is why we said we must improve the governance system, develop and bring in technology to fix it. The third reform we did was to restore the commission back to its core mandate. We planned to get NDDC to concentrate on doing big ticket projects that will promote regional integration and boost the regional economy. In collaboration with stakeholders in the region, particularly the state governments, we have come up with projects that would lead to regional integration. We were in Ondo State recently where we flagged off the construction of 51 kilometre road linking the Ilaje part of the state to Lagos. We also have collaboration with the governments of Edo and Cross River states to do projects. The fourth reform we carried out is to generally rededicate ourselves to doing things in right way for the benefit of the Niger Delta region. We have been getting positive feedbacks from the reforms we initiated. But, are we where we want to be? No. But, the reforms are taking the commission steadily to the destination. I hope people that would take over from us would see the need to sustain the reform.

     

    Challenges against the commission’s plan

    The greatest challenge to our plan is the attitude of some people in the Niger Delta region, particularly the youth. These people have a sense of entitlement, because they have been entertained for so long. They are used to getting things done in a particular way and getting certain kind of gratification. Since they are not getting what they used to get, they are not happy with us. Weeks ago, I got threats from some group. They went to online media and posted that our administration is the worst in the history of NDDC. They urged the President Muhammadu Buhari to dissolve the NDDC Board and reconstitute a new one. We decided to call them and asked why they posted the threat. They said they were expecting money from NDDC and they had not got it. So, how do you take out government money and just handover to a group of people just because you don’t want them to malign you? If you pay them, another group would do the same thing. They would write unbelievable allegations against us. One of those funny allegations recently made against our management is that, we had wasted N500 billion in one year. That is laughable, we have not received 20 per cent of that money. How do you waste something you have never received? But these people don’t even care, so far their aim is to box you into submission to their wishes.

     

    Determining projects to carry out

    When we came on board, we decided to adopt bottom-up approach in project conceptualisation. We get representation from all the communities in the region on continuous basis. Because we made up our mind on working collaboratively with the state governments; before now, we had a situation where there were conflicts with the state governments in terms of project duplication. We set up state project committees for each state, which also serve as budget committees. Each state’s representative on the board of NDDC chairs that committee. We ask them to go to their respective states and engage with the government on project requests coming from communities to know which project NDDC should take on. So, that is how we generate the project that we put into our budget and send to the National Assembly. I can’t say there would not be political interference in project allocation. Some inputs from the political class usually come in, particularly from members of the National Assembly. Once we send in our budget, it becomes the property of the National Assembly. Whatever they return to you is your actual budget. At times, some of the projects we get in the final draft of the budget are not the ones we suggested. That is where political interference comes in. We end up embarking on projects that are not necessarily within our vision.

     

    Funding the NDDC

    This is a very great challenge for the NDDC. I had a friend who was also a former Managing Director of the commission years ago. When he took over, he met a balance of N140 billion and used that to start work. When we came, we met about N2 billion. Meanwhile, the salary bill for NDDC in a month is about N800 million. By the time we paid the first salary, almost half of the money was gone. To improve our financial base, we have been working aggressively with the oil companies to get their contribution to the NDDC funds along with contribution from the Federal Government. There is a huge deficit in terms of what we get and what we are supposed to get from the Federal Government. Cumulatively over the years, we have a deficit of N1.8 trillion debt which the Federal Government is owing the NDDC from inception till date. We have written to the Federal Government and fortunately we got the sympathy of the President concerning this. He directed the Ministries of Finance and Budget and Planning to engage the NDDC and do a reconciliation on the exact amount the Federal Government is owing the commission, with the aim to agree on acceptable payment plan. Unfortunately, we are not getting the kind of support we expected from the Ministry of Finance till date. That is where we are. We are putting pressure on them. Definitely, we have challenges with funding. The oil companies have been contributing their dues to the commission. We had a major issue with Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) recently. With the amendment of the NLNG Act, we are able to get some contribution from NLNG into NDDC. So, there is a progress in terms of looking beyond the government’s contribution. We appreciate the support of the National Assembly in retrieving funds.

     

    ‘What has changed under our leadership’

    Last year alone, we were able to complete over 370 projects. It is a record success. It has never happened before in the history of the commission. These projects included roads, bridges, solar energy production and other areas. The perception that NDDC is a cash cow is not true. If it was true, I personally would have been a beneficiary. When we came, we instituted reforms based on our 4Rs strategy. We sought to change the way the commission is run. We want to make the NDDC transparent and efficient. On a monthly basis, NDDC get N5 billion from the federation account. By the time workers’ salaries, imprest to the various directorates and other overheads are paid, we may be left with N3 billion. And the commission has contingent liability of over N1 trillion; so, how can NDDC be a cash cow? So, it is a wrong perception. Managing an agency like NDDC is a tough job. Because we have institutionalised due process and transparency in the system, to get one kobo from the agency, you will go through over 50 stages. This is done to improve transparency and accountability.

     

    Allocation of projects in states

    The way we allocate projects in our area of activities is based on two principles. One is quality of state and the percentage of oil production of any particular state. That is what we use to determine how projects are shared among oil-producing states. For a very long time, Akwa Ibom has been the number one oil producer in the country. This information could be verified from NNPC’s chart. That automatically means that Akwa Ibom is supposed to have highest number of projects from NDDC. Before we came on board, that was not the situation. In doing what is right, we said we would give Akwa Ibom its fair share because of its sheer size of contribution to the national economy. It is unfortunate that people are now looking at it from a political angle, which is making some people feel threatened because of the projects we are bringing to Akwa Ibom State.

     

    Gubernatorial ambition

    It is too early to say whether I want to contest for governor in Akwa Ibom State or not. I am working in NDDC for now.

  • NDDC will solve landslide in Delta village

    The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) will solve the landslide that occurred in Tuomo community in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta.

    NDDC commissioner in Warri Mr Ogaga Ifowodo spoke yesterday in Warri when he led a delegation to inspect the site.

    News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that a portion of the shoreline protection project in Tuomo collapsed on March 18 due to landslide.

    However, no life or property was lost in the incident.

    Ifowodo said  immediate solution would protect houses already endangered.

    According to him, a lasting solution may involve conducting a deep soil investigation to understand the soil formation and quality of the underlying layers of soil.

    “The first step now is to look for immediate solution to protect those houses that are really endangered by the landslide.

    “A more lasting solution is to look for the root cause of the problem, because failure have happened in two places along the shoreline.

    “So, we need to identify what is responsible for the failure; we may need to do deep soil investigation to understand the soil formation.

    “How soon, I cannot say for now, because we are just coming from inspection. We need to get back to the office and do our report,’’ he said.

    Ifowodo said the commission had two projects – shoreline protection and concrete pavement along that shoreline.

    He said: “We don’t want both projects to be endangered.

    “If we do not take immediate step, we are also exposing ourselves to greater cost of finally remediating the situation because a stitch in time saves nine.”

    Ifowodo appealed the community to be patient as NDDC will address the situation.

    Also, Mr Dada Bamidele, Civil/Operations manager of Vibroflotation and Geotechnical Nigeria Ltd., said the contracting firm would proffer  an engineering solution to the challenge.

    “Landslide is a natural phenomenon; there are some geographical formation within the soil that may not be obvious within the surface that is responsible for the disaster.

    “No one pray for this kind of a thing, if you do a job anywhere, you will be glad to see your work stand overtime and serve its purpose,” Bamidele said.

    He urged the community to cooperate to ensure that whatever solution proposed would be beneficial to all.

    An opinion leader in Tuomo, Mr Ebikoro Tabekaemi, blamed the situation on poor job by the contractor.

    “The other portion of the project failed about two years ago and now this place, the contractor is not serious with the job, that is the truth,” he said.