The Senate Committee on the Niger Delta has warned contractors executing<\/p>\n
projects for the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, to be prepared
\nto work or refund the money paid to them.<\/p>\n
The chairman of the committee, Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, gave the marching
\norders on Wednesday during a courtesy visit of members of his committee to
\nthe NDDC headquarters in Port Harcourt.<\/p>\n
He said that those who have run away with money meant for the development
\nof the Niger Delta would be held accountable, adding that the Senate
\nCommittee was determined to help the NDDC recover all funds due to it
\nstatutorily. \u201cIn discharging its oversight functions, my committee will
\nensure that every contributor to NDDC pays what they owe the commission,
\nbecause we cannot afford to toy with the development of that very
\nimportant region,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s important that NDDC gets all that is due it from the Ecological
\nFund, for instance,\u201d he said, pledging to do all that was necessary to
\nresolve the impasse over the non-payment by gas processing companies to
\nthe NDDC fund.<\/p>\n
Senator Nwaoboshi said that his committee had obtained the Supreme Court
\nruling which the Nigeria LNG Limited was relying upon to renege on its
\nfunding obligations to the NDDC. The case was not decided on merit and we
\nhave, therefore, advised the commission to follow up on the legal issues.<\/p>\n
The committee chairman said that even the budget of the oil companies,
\nwhich the NDDC could not get before now, had been obtained by the
\ncommittee. \u201cWe have obtained all their budgets from the year 2000. That
\nwill enable the NDDC to appropriately calculate its own 3 per cent share
\nof the budget and correctly determine whether they have been paying the
\ncorrect percentage or shortchanging the commission,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Senator Peter Nwaoboshi said the committee was in Rivers State to carry
\nout a holistic investigation into the activities of the NDDC from its
\ninception to date. He stated that the committee would also address
\ncritical issues relating to the budget of the NDDC, which would soon be
\npresented to the Senate.<\/p>\n
Earlier in his remarks, the Acting Managing Director of the NDDC, Mrs.
\nIbim Semenitari said that the commission had received just over N500
\nbillion since inception, while it was being owed N800 billion. \u201cThat is
\nwhy we need the strong voice of members of the Senate to tell our story,\u201d
\nshe said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have good stories to tell like the Ogbia-Nembe Road, in Bayelsa State,
\nwhich the commission is executing with Shell Petroleum Development
\nCompany, SPDC, the orthopaedic and cardiovascular hospitals in the 9
\nstates and the proto-type hostels for universities and polytechnics.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Senate Committee also paid a courtesy call to the Rivers State
\nGovernor, Barr. Nyesom Wike at the Government House.<\/p>\n
The governor called for greater inputs of states in the conception and
\nexecution of key projects by the NDDC. He said that inputs from states in
\nthe region would reduce the incidents of the duplication of projects by
\nthe states and the NDDC.<\/p>\n
He said: “It is important for states to make inputs, so that necessary
\nprojects are executed by the NDDC.”<\/p>\n
He regretted that there are several abandoned projects under the NDDC. He
\nadvised the Senate Committee on Niger Delta and the NDDC to take steps to
\nend the era of abandoned projects.<\/p>\n
The governor called for the allocation of funds for the completion of the
\nEast-West Road which cuts across the entire states of the South-South
\nregion.<\/p>\n
He said it is too early to assess the tenure of the Mrs Semenitari, as the
\nChief Executive Officer of the commission, since she had only spent a
\nshort time in office.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44142,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n