former Executive Director of Projects of the Niger Delta Development
Commission, NDDC, Mr. Samuel Adjogbe to explain how and why he awarded
over N60billion emergency contracts under five months without tenders,
Pointblanknews.com sources have revealed.
Pointblanknews.com gathered that the contracts were awarded to companies
hurriedly packaged with no work history or known addresses.
Adjogbe, according to findings had through his office, awarded series of
emergency contracts shared between him Transport Minister, Rotimi
Amaechi, his benefactor, O’tega Emerho, a former Governorship candidate
of the All Progressive Congress, APC, Delta State and the former
Chairman of the Rivers State APC, Chief Davies Ibiamu-Ikanya.
The contracts sum ranges from N800million, N700million, N500million were
awarded to several portfolio companies without tenders in breach of the
procurement act.
Sources told Pointblanknews.com that a generous Adjogbe, splits
contracts running into several billions within four months to the APC
leaders after he had been assured of emerging the next managing Director
of the NDDC.
“He went crazy after he was assured that his emergence as the next MD of
the NDDC has been sealed,” a source familiar with the deals at the NDDC
told pointblanknews.com.
According to an APC source, Ortega had assured Adjogbe that Amaechi and
other stakeholders have bought into his candidacy for the MD of the NDDC
and in appreciation of the support, the former Executive Director of
Project went into contract award spree, sharing contracts to Amaechi,
Emerhor and other APC chieftains.
Another angle that angered the anti-graft agencies is that these dubious
contracts were awarded without budgetary provisions which is a clear
breach of the federal government’s public procurement Act.
Sources inside NDDC revealed that Ajogbe acting in connivance with
Emerhor, split contracts to beat the threshold and had them awarded when
the NDDC budget 2019 hadn’t been passed by the National Assembly. Said a
director in NDDC.
“That young man called Ajogbe will go to jail like his predecessor,
Tuoyo. He was awarding jobs and spending money without budgetary
approval from the National Assembly. Check the records. He felt Emerhor
and Amaechi will protect him.”
Immediately the Prof. Nelson Briambaifa was sacked, the EFCC swiftly
went into investigations and discovering massive fraud committed by the
former NDDC board. Adjogbe was immediately invited to explain the
massive award of contracts.
In the course of investigations, sources confirmed to pointblanknews.com
that unexplained properties linked to O’tega Emerhor and Adjogbe have
been found in Lagos and Abuja while investigations are ongoing on wire
transfers done within and outside Nigeria.
O’tega has since gone into hiding, while his protégé, Adjogbe has been
answering questions from investigators.
Meanwhile, sources in Delta state hinted that O’tega funded Evelyn
Oboro, a Peoples Democratic Party Senatorial candidate for Delta Central
with N100million, part of the proceeds from contracts he got from the
NDDC. He also allegedly funded most of the PDP election tribunals in
Delta state to spite the Great Ogboru faction of the APC.
The NDDC is currently in over N2trillion debt from contracts awarded