The Association of Contractors of the Niger Delta Development Commission (ACNDDC) continued their picketing of the NDDC Head Office as they blocked access to NDDC Head office in Port Harcourt.
The contractors who commenced their protest last week at the premises of Niger Delta Affairs Ministry, Abuja, insisted that the Commission pays outstanding debts it owes contractors and President Buhari inaugurates the Board of the Commission.
Speaking on day two of the protest, the Chairman of ACNDDC, Joe Adia, stated that “the Federal government should as a matter of urgency pay us what they owe us and inaugurate the board.”
According to him, staff of the commission will be denied access to the office because “They are working for us, we are the contractors, we are the reason why they are here, so if we are aggrieved, it means they are not doing their job, or they are not allowed to do their job.”
On their plan for a drawn-out protest at the NDDC Head office in Port Harcourt, Adia restated that “This is day two and this is just the beginning, because we are ready to be here, if we have been starved for over ten years what will it take us if we even stay here one year to achieve results?”
According to him, “They will pay us and they will bring in the board. The nonsense that is happening in NDDC must stop. We will be here till the Federal Government, till Mr. President decides to do the right thing by bringing in the board. He has already nominated the board that has been confirmed, for God’s sake, so what is all these process, tomorrow its one committee or the other, give us the board, the board is already confirmed.”
Lamenting the alleged ongoing mismanagement of funds in the Commission, Joe Adia stated that the Commission “should come and settle what you owe contractors, we have done jobs for you. You must pay us as a matter of now. Presently huge monies come into the Commission every month and the next thing we hear is that the money is finished. Who are you paying? Give us a record of the people you are paying. How can you pay N800 million each for so called desilting jobs and yet contractors being owed N5 million you have refused to pay? We cannot die for the jobs we have done for the region. We are saying, you pay us now and you bring in the board as a matter of urgency.”
Restating their resolve to ensure the end of the illegality of administering NDDC with a sole administrator, the ACNDDC Chairman demanded that “Mr. President should inaugurate and bring in the board. He has already nominated the board and they have screened the board. What is delaying the inauguration? We don’t care who he brings as long as he brings the substantive board to come and rule this place. This place is being ruined.”
(THISDAY)
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