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Tag: NDDC

  • Kidnapping stifling N’Delta development, says NDDC

    Kidnapping stifling N’Delta development, says NDDC

    Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Tuesday, lamented the negative effects of kidnapping saying violence against contractors was stifling development of the Niger Delta region.

    Acting Managing Director of NDDC, Mrs Ibim Semenitari, was particularly unhappy over the recent killing of two soldiers and an abduction of an expatriate attached to a construction firm, Setraco, in Bayelsa State.

    An expatriate, Ramzi Bau Hadir, 53, was kidnapped by gunmen along the Nembe-Ogbia road last week after a gun duel that left two soldiers dead.

    Semenitari said the attack could stall the inauguration of the Ogbia-Nembe road, a joint project between NDDC and Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC).

    A statement signed by Daniel Iworiso-Markson, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Seriake Dickson, said the NDDC boss spoke in Government House Yenagoa when she paid a courtesy visit to the governor.

    She said the purpose of her visit to Bayelsa was to assess ongoing projects and identify areas of immediate intervention according to needs.

    She said the NDDC has awarded 28 regional projects from its inception, out of which two had been inaugurated.

    She explained that 658 other projects had also been awarded in the areas of shore protection, repair of roads, sand-filling, construction of jetties and electrification.

    She said the abandoned Akenfa bridge project was awarded at the cost of N800 million out of which 50 per cent mobilisation has been paid.

    In his remarks, Dickson warned NDDC against being used as platform for servicing political interest.

    He also suggested that the NDDC should collaborate with state governments in the region to execute priority projects that would serve as a catalyst for the socio-economic development.

    The governor commended the NDDC for the award of contracts in Bayelsa states, but  decried the number of abandoned projects in the state, which he attributed the development to the over-politicization of the activities of the commission.

    He said, “No doubt, contracts were awarded for development projects in Bayelsa but they were abandoned after the payment of mobilization fees. So, in Bayelsa State, you have a litany of abandoned projects in every community, which is not fair.

    “Beneficiaries of these contracts, who thought that the NDDC was just there as a cash cow for them to enrich their pockets at the expense of the impoverished people, who are in need of development is very unfair.”

     

  • NDDC spent N9.2b on projects in three months, says MD

    NDDC spent N9.2b on projects in three months, says MD

    The Acting Managing Director of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mrs Ibim Semenitari, has said the commission spent N9.2 billion on projects between January and March.

    Semenitari spoke yestrday on the News Agency of Nigeria’s (NAN’s) Forum in Abuja.

    She said: “As at January 1, our balance was N9.9 billion. Within this period, that is January to March, we received N6.8 billion from the Federal Government and N32 billion from oil firms. So, the inflow was about N48.9 billion.

    “These are the expenses we have made: Recurrent payment, including salary and allowances as well as other expenditure, stood at N7 billion and payment for projects stood at N9.2 billion.

    “There was no accusation of any capital fixed asset within the period under review. So, the expenditure within the period under review is N16.3 billion.”

    The NDDC chief said the cash balance as at March 25 was N32.26 billion.

    She said: “This means that when I make payment this week or next week, it means that has taken to the second quarter.”

    The acting managing director noted that before the commission paid any contractor, it processed the interim payment certificate.

    “The way we pay, we process the interim payment certificate. And then the number of interim payment certificates that has been processed for payment is 153. But we have worked more these numbers.

    “Those that are still in the process, action is being taken on them; some of them have treated 493 interim payment certificates.”

    Mrs Semenitari said the commission paid 642 of 8,600 contractors.

    She said: “Basically, what I am saying is that I have addressed over 600 contractors. In other words, 600 projects have been treated. We have been able to complete about 28 projects within this period.”

    The NDDC chief said the biggest challenge she had,  “was the fact that we are owing so many people”.

    According to her, the commission was owing more than 8,600 contractors between N400 billion and N450 billion.

    She said paucity of funds, coupled with the public perception of the commission, became sources of concern for the management.

    But she said NDDC dealt with both challenges and re-invigorated the workforce.

    Mrs Semenitari said: “The biggest challenge we had, on assumption of office, for me, was the fact that we were owing so many people. We were owing more than 8,600 contractors and we are owing between N400 billion and N450 billion.

    “That’s a lot of money. So, the first challenge was you had so many contracts and you had so much debt: there was a big hole right there.

    “The second was the perception problem. The commission was perceived – rightly or wrongly – as a place you just come, take your share and go. It was also perceived to be a corrupt place.

    “And we also had to deal with the need to professionalise the workforce. Basically, in terms of how you reposition the people. We also had to reinvigorate the workforce so that people would have a sense of freshness and a sense of new challenges because we could get people back on track.”

    According to her, better days will come for the commission by the time its funding partners pay their debts.

    Mrs Semenitari noted that with the payment of the outstanding funds, the projects the commission was handling would become visible.

    The NDDC chief said the late passage of the commission’s budget hampered its proper planning and management.

    She said: “By law, we are funded with three per cent from oil companies; we are funded from the ecological fund and we are funded from money accruable to states.

    “We had a situation where we were owed by our funding partners. The Federal Government, which is our owner, was owing us about N800 billion.

    “Whereas the law provides for specific kinds of funding for the commission, unfortunately the commission had not been receiving its funds as at when due. So, this was one of the challenges I had to deal with.

    “And then, of course, perhaps the last and the critical one is the fact of late budgets. The NDDC budget is always late, and that doesn’t help for planning. It comes so late in the year; indeed, I hear sometimes as late as October, by which time the year is ending. That’s because the NDDC budget, by the budget practice, doesn’t go with all other budgets.

    “For that reason, the budget process of the NDDC begins after and so terminates ridiculously late in the year, by which time, of course, by planning and everything, it makes it almost ridiculous and impossible for management to function within the appropriation act.”

    Mrs Semenitari called for a speedy budget to ensure its smooth operation.

    The NDDC acting MD urged Niger Delta residents to protect contractors handling projects in the region.

    She spoke about the killing and kidnapping of construction personnel working on the Ogbio-Nembe Road.

    Mrs Semenitari urged the people to understand that “we need safety to drive development”.

  • NDDC disowns college renovation contract

    NDDC disowns college renovation contract

    The management of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), said yesterday it did not award any contract for the renovation of classroom blocks at the Government Technical College, Abak in Akwa Ibom.

    Mrs. Ibim Semenatari, the acting Managing Director, on a visit to the school explained that any contract awarded by the commission usually carries NDDC signpost at the site.

    The Akwa Ibom Government had complained that the contract was abandoned.

    Mr. Aniekan Umanah, the Commissioner for Information and Communications, took  the Senate Committee on NDDC and Amnesty Programme to the institution  to show the abandoned classroom blocks.

    Umanah alleged that the commission came into the school and removed the roof of four classroom blocks leaving the students to suffer in the rain and under the scorching sun.

    The commissioner claimed that the contract was abandoned a year ago and that delicate science facilities and computer sets were damaged during the process of transferring them.

    However, Semenatari said yesterday that the contract was not listed in the books of NDDC.

    In his reaction, the Senate Committee Chairman on NDDC and Amnesty Programme, Sen. Peter Nwaoboshi, cautioned the people of Niger Delta to beware of fake contract letters purportedly issued by NDDC.

    The committee chairman said that there had been reports of fake contract letters issued by unscrupulous persons in the name of NDDC.

    At the inspection of the 2km Edienne Abak – Ikot Ekan Road, the committee expressed dissatisfaction with the level of work done since 2012 when the contract was awarded.

    Nwaoboshi directed the contractor to return to site immediately or refund the mobilisation of N48 million earlier collected from NDDC.

    The NDDC engineers had informed the committee that the contractor had completed earth work and one kilometre of stone base before abandoning the work.

    Nwaoboshi, who was baffled at the contract sum for the project, put at N248 million and the level of work done, said, “I am really surprised, I am disappointed.”

    The committee, however, said that it was impressed by the quality of work done at the NDDC prototype hostel complex for the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital (UUTH).

    Commenting on the project, the committee chairman commended NDDC for “this beautiful project.”

    Nwaoboshi also commended the contractor handling the 6.5km Okoroutip-Okoroete-Ette Road, cutting through the mangrove swamp of Ibeno Local Government Area.

  • Senate Committee on NDDC decries abandoned projects

    Senate Committee on NDDC decries abandoned projects

    The Senate Committee on Niger Delta Commission (NDDC) has frowned at the plethora of projects abandoned by contractors across the Niger Delta.

    Committee Chairman  Peter Nwaoboshi spoke yesterday in Port Harcourt  when he led members on a fact-finding mission.

    Nwaoboshi said the committee had a list of contractors, who collected money only to abandon the projects.

    He said the committee came to Rivers State to verify the petitions received by the Senate on activities of NDDC, adding that their visit is not meant to witch-hunt anybody.

    Nwaoboshi said:  “We are here on referral from the Senate on the performance of NDDC. The Senate directed we should investigate petitions it received concerning NDDC. We are not here to witch-hunt anybody but we have come to carry out our oversight  function and we will do it without fear or favour. We are also to discuss the report submitted to us by management of NDDC.

    “We have been able to collect the budget of oil companies who are supposed to contribute their quota to the Commission. We learnt that they  have refused to give their budget to you. The oil companies are to contribute  13 percent of their budget. Government cannot finance the commission alone. The private agencies have to contribute their own quota. We have summoned the Managing Director of NLNG and the Accountant- General of the federation to explain certain issues concerning the financing of the commission.

    “We cannot play politics with the development of our region.  We will do our best to ensure that all the agencies that are supposed to contribute to the financing of the commission contribute their quota. Bayelsa State has the highest number of abandoned  projects  totaling 38. So many abandoned projects have been paid for and yet the projects have not been completed.”

    Acting Managing Director of NDDC Mrs Ibim Semenitari told the committee that she inherited a debt profile of N800 billion from contractors between 2009 to 2012, adding that the intervention agency had commenced payment.

  • Group favours Ondo indigene as NDDC boss

    Group favours Ondo indigene as NDDC boss

    Group under the aegis of the Oodua Nationalist Coalition, (ONAC) has impressed on President Muhammadu Buhari the need to consider appointing an indigene of Ondo State as the next Managing Director of the Niger-Delta Development Commission, (NDDC).

    According to the group, the choice becomes inevitable in order to break the NDDC from its ugly past when armed groups had a strong stake in the commission through officials that placate them with the commission’s funds.

    “It will be in extreme bad faith if the position of the NDDC does not go to Ondo State. The oil producing Ilaje community stood by President Buhari and the All Progressives Congress, (APC) during the last election. It will be quite unfair if the next NDDC Managing Director fails to come from oil producing communities in Ondo State,” ONAC said in a statement signed by its official, Mr Suleiman Sanusi.

    “Our support for an Ondo State indigene does not include politicians from the State jostling to take over the position for personal political ends. We think the new NDDC MD should be someone that will use the commission to develop the entire Niger-Delta region and bring a halt to violence, kidnapping and destruction of oil pipelines.”

    ONAC said in the past, the NDDC had been controlled by armed gangs and their surrogates who turned the commission into an avenue to siphon public funds diverted to supporting criminal cells used for electoral malpractices and other related violence.

    The group said some of the militant armed groups in the Niger-Delta were on the payroll of the NDDC. “This was a well orchestrated plot by the PDP to keep itself in power in the Niger-Delta through intimidation of opponents, violence and threats at gun point.”

    The group said the PDP politicians are working day and night to come back into national limelight by seizing top positions in the NDDC with the hope of using the NDDC as drainpipes for political ends.

  • Lassa fever: NDDC begins distribution of kits to nine states

    Lassa fever: NDDC begins distribution of kits to nine states

    The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), said on Wednesday that it had commenced distribution of kits and equipment to fight spread of Lassa fever in the nine states in Niger Delta.

    This is contained in a statement issued in Port Harcourt by Mr Chijioke Amu-Nnadi, the commission’s Head of Corporate Affairs Unit.

    The statement quoted Mrs Ibim Semenitari, Acting Managing Director of NDDC, as saying that the commission was concerned about high occurrence of the disease in Edo, Ondo and Rivers.

    It said 1,800 pieces of kits, cold chains, sanitizers and personal protective equipment had been donated to the Rivers Central Medical Stores to distribute to patients in Rivers.

    “We will also send kits to other states for prevention measures; so that the disease can be quickly contained if it spreads to other states.

    “Distribution of Lassa fever kits and facilities to store vaccines is part of the commission’s commitments to support the fight against infectious diseases and health challenges in the region.

    “The commission will soon donate mosquito nets to states health ministries which will be distributed to people in rural communities”, Semenitari was quoted in the statement as saying.

    The statement quoted the Rivers Commissioner for Health, Dr Theophilus Odagme, as saying that the kits and facilities would help checkmate Lassa fever and other infectious diseases in the state.

    Odagme said the cold chain facility had increased the state’s capacity to store vaccines and enhance immunisation.

    “We are hoping to explore more ways of collaborating with NDDC in tackling health challenges while delivering quality healthcare services to people of the state,” the statement said.

  • Anti-graft war: NDDC to invite contractors, former officials

    Anti-graft war: NDDC to invite contractors, former officials

    The Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, has said contractors and ex-officials of the commission may be invited to explain their activities in office.

    She spoke yesterday during a visit to Governor Adams Oshiomhole in Benin, the Edo State capital.

    Mrs Semenitari said  President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration was keen on the completion of projects in the nine states of the Niger Delta.

    The NDDC boss donated protective kits and other accessories to states in the Niger Delta.

    Mrs. Semenitar said the donation was part of the Federal Government’s intervention to end Lassa fever in the region.

    She noted that similar efforts were spearheaded by the NDDC during the outbreak of Ebola in 2014.

    The NDDC boss, according to a statement by her Special Assistant on Media, Bekee Anyalewechi, said Edo, Ondo and Rivers states were chosen for the exercise, being the worse hit among the nine states.

    Mrs. Semenitari said NDDC was involved in public education.

    Oshiomhole hailed her for the visit, saying he believed in her competence to deliver on her mandate.

     

    He said: “Based on your pedigree, I know you will change NDDC. I do not think you will encounter any opposition similar to what you surmounted in Rivers.

    ”Before now, many saw NDDC as their honey-pot and actually licked half of the pot, while they took the other half to Abuja. The people in the region, who should have benefitted, became mere distant spectators. I trust that with you at the helm of affairs, that place (NDDC) will change.”

    Oshiomhole also recommended the use of only competent contractors in the award of contracts and promised to make land available to the commission for the building of a befitting office accommodation.

    Mrs. Semenitari later performed the official handover of the kits to the Edo government.

    The NDDC boss, while earlier speaking on a live radio breakfast show in Benin City, declared that bribery would not be allowed in the intervention agency.

    She disclosed that dedicated telephone lines and e-mail addresses had been created by the commission for members of the public to report officials of NDDC, who ask for bribe for service delivery.

  • Group favours Ondo indigene as NDDC boss

    A group under the aegis of the Oodua Nationalist Coalition, (ONAC) has impressed on President Muhammadu Buhari the need to consider appointing an indigene of Ondo State as the next Managing Director of the Niger-Delta Development Commission, (NDDC).

    According to the group, the choice becomes inevitable in order to break the NDDC from its ugly past, when armed groups had a strong stake in the commission through officials that placate them with the commission’s funds.

    “It will be in extreme bad faith if the position of the NDDC does not go to Ondo State. The oil producing Ilaje community stood by President Buhari and the All Progressives Congress, (APC) during the last election. It will be quite unfair if the next NDDC Managing Director fails to come from oil producing communities in Ondo State,” ONAC said in a statement signed by its official, Mr Suleiman Sanusi.

    “Our support for an Ondo State indigene does not include politicians from the state jostling to take over the position for personal political ends. We think the new NDDC MD should be someone that will use the commission to develop the entire Niger-Delta region and bring a halt to violence, kidnapping and destruction of oil pipelines.”

  • Can Semenitari take NDDC from cemetery?

    SIR: In comparing the agitations being made by the Ondo State people for one of theirs to head the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, with the substantive appointment of Madam Ibim Semenitari as Managing Director, I came across a vital cliché. There is a delicate balance between what the people of Ondo need as what seems to be their legitimate right to run the affairs of the NDDC, and that of the President in his desire to put square pegs in square positions. But there is also another fundamental need to see how we can balance the legitimate aspirations of a people whose ‘turn’ to occupy the ‘juicy’ position of NNDC chairman against the backdrop of the problems that the NDDC has had over the years.

    There are stipulations in the NDDC Act for the managing director’s position to rotate among the five states which make up the states that the NDDC should cater to – Delta, Rivers, Akwa-Ibom, Edo and Ondo. Three of these states have ‘tasted’ the sweet juice but the other two have not. Therefore, one of them, Ondo, want their ‘turn’ and this is irrespective of the belief that the NDDC is allegedly a clearing house for corruption and needs to be revamped. We would not be hard put to find out why they want their ‘turn’ at a commission embroiled in one scandal of corruption or the other. For instance, nobody can access the NDDC budget, and if you do you just might find out that the one in your possession is counterfeit. Very many ‘big’ men and women lobby Aso Rock and sometimes employ the services of voodoo priests and the like to get bogey contracts that will never be executed. Before he was kicked out, former managing director Dan Abia was alleged to have awarded anN882million contract for the purchase of luxury cars.

    This is why the agitation by the Ondo contingent to occupy the chairmanship of the NDDC is a bit curious. Are they looking to occupy the ‘juicy’ position of managing director of the NDDC so as to turn things around? Or is their ambition borne out solely because one of theirs has never occupied the position and so they want the notoriously juicy position at all costs? Do they as a matter of fact have somebody who can turn the fortunes of the NDDC around?

    Prior to the constitution of the President’s cabinet, gist from the mill had it that he was on the lookout for ‘angels’ – people without any baggage of corruption. That search for angels eventually led to a mixed bag of personages of known antecedents and who were not too different from the people who have occupied one office or the other. And so, we were saddled with an Ibim Semenitari as Acting Managing Director of the NDDC, probably until the President finds an angel to run the NDDC.

    So who is Semenitari? Her profile on the internet is that she is the first female journalist in Nigeria to win the CNN African journalist of the year, together with sundry awards for her work as a journalist. Those who worked very closely with her as a journalist describe her as strong-willed and very opinionated. If she sets her heart on a project or programme, it would take all the demons in hell to stop her. After a stint as publisher of Business Eye Magazine, she joined the Rivers State government under Rotimi Amaechi as Commissioner for Information. Fiercely loyal to her principal and feisty in his defence, her antagonists insist that Mrs. Semenitari should take credit for the frosty relationship that blew open between the APC and PDP in Rivers State.

    For some, they care less from which corner of this country the NDDC Managing Director comes from. They just want somebody with the balls to throw the budget of the NDDC open for public scrutiny. They also want monitoring teams to carry out strict supervision during project implementations, to ensure compliance and to avoid sub-standard projects. If Mrs. Semenitari could pull this off, particularly that part that has to do with throwing open the budget for public scrutiny, then the NDDC would be out of the cemetery in no time.

     

    • Bob MajiriOghene Etemiku,

    ANEEJ, Benin City.

  • Senate tackles NLNG, EFO over non contribution to NDDC

    Senate tackles NLNG, EFO over non contribution to NDDC

    The Senate Wednesday opened investigation into alleged non remittance of statutory contribution to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) by some government agencies.

    Senate Committee on Niger Delta saddled with the probe grilled officials of the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas and Ecological Fund Office over the claim.

    Chairman of the Committee, Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, told reporters that the amount due for payment to NDDC by the NLNG and the Ecological Fund Office which they allegedly refused to pay for over 16 years is colossal.

    He described the development as fragrant abuse of the law setting up the NDDC.

    Nwaoboshi said, “It is not whether that they contributed certain percentage. The point is that they had refused to obey the law since year 2000.

    “The next step the committee would take now is to invite the Accountant General of the Federation and investigate the matter to know why the two agencies of government had not been remitting what is due to the NDDC to it.

    “We are conducting holistic investigation into the activities of the NDDC. What we want to do is to find out first, the claims in some quota that colossal amount had been given to the people of Niger Delta region through the NDDC while there is nothing on the ground.

    “We want to, know how much the agency had received so far from year 2000 to date. What are the projects they have executed with the money.

    “We want to know those who are contributing to the agency. We have asked the Managing Director of the NLNG, Mr, Babs Omotowa, and he said that they have not been contributing money to the NDDC.

    “They showed us a Supreme Court judgement which described NLNG as a gas processing company and that there is a gas Act that came before that of NDDC Act.

    “They argued that the NDDC Act has not repealed the Gas Act. The NLNG claimed that the Gas Act has given them tax holiday.

    “We are lawmakers and we are going to revisit the two Acts. We will go into the root of the matter.

    “We don’t just make laws for the purpose of making it. Laws are meant to be obeyed. If government agencies and institutions refuse to obey the law, why do we talk about the rule of law?

    “Laws made by the National Assembly should be obeyed. Everybody is complaining that the NDDC is not performing but are they receiving the due funding especially from the oil companies.

    “The oil companies are supposed to pay three percent of their budget to NDDC but they are giving less than that.

    “When they came before our committee, I read out the Act to them and some of them started apologising.

    “They said they thought that they were supposed to pay three percent of the projects that they execute in their communities.

    “There has been total disregard and respect for the NDDC Act and nobody will allow that.”

    The Permanent Secretary, Ecological Fund Office, Mr. Mohammed Abass, said that his office has made contributions but not to the NDDC.

    He noted that the Ecological Fund Office spends only the money approved for it by the President for design and drawing.

    He added that the NDDC has never approached the Ecological Fund Office to ask for statutory funding.

    Abass said, “Our office receives one percent of the approved money due to the consolidated fund which is the federal government share of the federation account.

    “Every other state in the federation receives one percent of the fund too. The account is called derivation and ecology.

    “The Fiscal Allocation Committee shares two percent of the funds in the federation account to the federal, states and local governments.

    The federal government receives 48.5 percent, states receives 24 percent while the local governments receive 20 percent. The ecological Fund Office manages the federal government share.

    “Therefore, the Ecological Fund Office is not supposed to fund any state from its own resources because every state gets their own share of the allocation from the federation account and not from the consolidated revenue fund.

    “I believe that the NDDC should receive funding from the shares due to states and local governments.

    “The distribution of the shares of states and local governments are being controlled by the office of the Accountant – General of the Federation.

    “There was no time that the NDDC has come to us to ask for funding. The fund we handle is used by the federal government to carry out intervention in states.”