The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has declared as illegal the payment of percentages on contract sums and all forms of financial inducements to middlemen who claim to be fronting for the Commission’s officials.
NDDC Managing Director, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, who made the declaration during an interactive session with contractors at the Commission’s headquarters in Port Harcourt, said the declaration became necessary in order to sanitise operations of the commission.
Ogbuku described the contractors as partners in the development of the Niger Delta region, stressing that they should resist the temptation of falling victims to persons who claim to be agents of the Executive Directors and Directors of the Commission that facilitate payments based on monetary inducements.
He stated that neither himself or the two Executive Directors has authorised anybody to act on their behalf as they are determined to make any sacrifices to bring back sanity to the Commission and reposition it for efficient service delivery.
The NDDC boss, while identifying with the many challenges of contractors arising from delay in the payments for the jobs they have done, regretted that it was impossible for the current Board of the commission to offset all the debts it has inherited within a short period.
Ogbuku said: “You are our partners in the development process. It is a sad situation that we are facing. As partners in the development of the Niger Delta region, we need your cooperation.”
He also apologised to the contractors for the shortcomings of the NDDC and called for a minute silence for contractors who lost their lives while waiting to be paid.
The NDDC Managing Director assured them that they would not be neglected going forward, pointing out that the Commission had initiated a Public, Private Partnership, PPP, arrangement to help it raise funds to execute NDDC projects.
Ogbuku said: “We have to find a way to address the funding challenges that has led to the debts to the contractors.”
He assured that the meeting with the contractors would be periodic as one of the measures to address the debt burden on the NDDC, explaining that the Commission had set up a Committee to streamline the payment of outstanding debts.
Earlier in his opening remarks, the NDDC Executive Director Projects, Mr. Charles Ogunmola, stated that the new leadership was ready to make a difference that would bring changes in the Niger Delta region.
He said: “We are at a new dawn at the NDDC. We need to collaborate to do things the right way and we want to see you as partners in the development of the Niger Delta region.”
The chairman of the NDDC Contractors Association, Mr. Joe Adia, in his remarks, commended the NDDC for initiating the interactive forum, but noted that contractors were “eager to hear when the payment of the debts will commence”
