The Senate Committee on the Niger Delta has warned contractors executing
projects for the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, to be prepared
to work or refund the money paid to them.
The chairman of the committee, Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, gave the marching
orders on Wednesday during a courtesy visit of members of his committee to
the NDDC headquarters in Port Harcourt.
He said that those who have run away with money meant for the development
of the Niger Delta would be held accountable, adding that the Senate
Committee was determined to help the NDDC recover all funds due to it
statutorily. “In discharging its oversight functions, my committee will
ensure that every contributor to NDDC pays what they owe the commission,
because we cannot afford to toy with the development of that very
important region,” he said.
“It’s important that NDDC gets all that is due it from the Ecological
Fund, for instance,” he said, pledging to do all that was necessary to
resolve the impasse over the non-payment by gas processing companies to
the NDDC fund.
Senator Nwaoboshi said that his committee had obtained the Supreme Court
ruling which the Nigeria LNG Limited was relying upon to renege on its
funding obligations to the NDDC. The case was not decided on merit and we
have, therefore, advised the commission to follow up on the legal issues.
The committee chairman said that even the budget of the oil companies,
which the NDDC could not get before now, had been obtained by the
committee. “We have obtained all their budgets from the year 2000. That
will enable the NDDC to appropriately calculate its own 3 per cent share
of the budget and correctly determine whether they have been paying the
correct percentage or shortchanging the commission,” he said.
Senator Peter Nwaoboshi said the committee was in Rivers State to carry
out a holistic investigation into the activities of the NDDC from its
inception to date. He stated that the committee would also address
critical issues relating to the budget of the NDDC, which would soon be
presented to the Senate.
Earlier in his remarks, the Acting Managing Director of the NDDC, Mrs.
Ibim Semenitari said that the commission had received just over N500
billion since inception, while it was being owed N800 billion. “That is
why we need the strong voice of members of the Senate to tell our story,”
she said.
“We have good stories to tell like the Ogbia-Nembe Road, in Bayelsa State,
which the commission is executing with Shell Petroleum Development
Company, SPDC, the orthopaedic and cardiovascular hospitals in the 9
states and the proto-type hostels for universities and polytechnics.”
The Senate Committee also paid a courtesy call to the Rivers State
Governor, Barr. Nyesom Wike at the Government House.
The governor called for greater inputs of states in the conception and
execution of key projects by the NDDC. He said that inputs from states in
the region would reduce the incidents of the duplication of projects by
the states and the NDDC.
He said: “It is important for states to make inputs, so that necessary
projects are executed by the NDDC.”
He regretted that there are several abandoned projects under the NDDC. He
advised the Senate Committee on Niger Delta and the NDDC to take steps to
end the era of abandoned projects.
The governor called for the allocation of funds for the completion of the
East-West Road which cuts across the entire states of the South-South
region.
He said it is too early to assess the tenure of the Mrs Semenitari, as the
Chief Executive Officer of the commission, since she had only spent a
short time in office.