Lawyer raises alarm over N15bn NDDC payments

By EBIRERI HENRY OVIE

A legal practitioner, Mr. Godwin Ojeh, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari, President of the Nigerian Senate, Ahmed Lawan, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon Femi Gbajabiamila, to stop the payment of N15 billion to contractors by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

“The Interim Management Committee of the Niger Delta Development Commission has thrown caution to the winds. It is about to pay for jobs not done. The committee is processing the payment of a whooping amount of N15 billion on spurious contracts in the name of ‘Desilting of Waterways’,” Ojeh said on Friday.

He further said in a statement issued in Benin City: “Is the 2020 budget of the commission ready? Where are they spending from? Recently, the Senate set up an ad hoc committee to probe the Interim Management Committee of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) over alleged mismanagement of N40 billion. The Senate also requested for 2019 budgetary performance. The commission doesn’t have power to expend public money. There is no budgetary provision.”

The Benin-based lawyer described the intention of the NDDC Interim Management Committee as “a move that will endanger development of the region.”

“There is no greater danger to the development of the Niger Delta region than the payments for fictitious contracts,” the statement said.

He also harped on the need for transparency in government organisations, saying: “It is necessary for the National Assembly and the executive arm of government to adopt a collective position on the allegation of corruption in the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).”