Stakeholders under the aegis of Forum of Concerned Niger-Delta Stakeholders (FOCONDS) have petitioned the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) over alleged massive corruption allegations against the incumbent Board and Management of the NDDC.
Leading a delegation to the EFCC office in Abuja, the youth group convener, Pristol Alagbariya lamented the number of abandoned projects in the Niger-Delta saying this had further impoverished the people.
According to him, the commission which is saddled with the responsibility of promoting development in the region has failed to live up to its duties as a result of corrupt practices.
“You will agree with me that the Niger Delta bears the economic burden of this country and the region is massively underdeveloped. That does not mean that successive governors did not do their bits, but we are here to ensure that the much they have done is transmitted practically on the ground. We are here to expose the corruption that is unbearable knowing well that Mr President rode on the mantra of fighting corruption.
“The NDDC is saddled with the responsibility of developing the Niger Delta region but this agency has been a conduit pipe for corruption. The management has performed woefully and enmeshed in massive corruptions that they use NGOs, CBOs, executive memos to seek for approval. The one that is of much concern is this emergency contract going on in the Niger Delta, they used their cronies and approved full payments of contract sum even when the project is only 30 per cent completed.
“There are various uncompleted projects in the Niger-Delta, the NDDC is no longer accessible to the Niger Deltans, massive poverty, look at the flood that ravaged our community it is because those projects were not done,” he said.
The two pages petition FOC/PET/EFCC/ABJ/PET.001, signed by FOCONDS’ National Coordinator, Dady Kelvin Gigi and titled; “Call for the Immediate Investigation of Massive and Horrendous Corruption in the NDDC” levelled weighty allegations against the Nsima Ekere-led NDDC Governing Board and Management.
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The document, which was addressed to the EFCC Chairman, Mr Ibrahim Magu called for an investigation into the operations of the commission.
These allegations include; Criminal negligence of duty; Lack of Due Process in Contracts and Programmes Award; The Corrupt use of NGOs and ‘Consultants’ as covert fronts for perpetrating and disguising graft; and the enthronement of nepotism and cronyism as the only available access route to official favour and patronage.
It partly reads: “Sir, we hereby call on you to promptly investigate: The unchecked corrupt practice of the presentation of Management Memos, at various NDDC Management Meetings for the procurement of goods, works and services, in the name of Grants, Subsidies, Donations, Assistance, etc. for Management’s approval.
“The non-involvement of the NDDC Procurement Unit in the Award of Emergency Procurement Contracts. The rampant practice of the holding-up, by the Executive Director Projects, of award files that have already received Management and/or MD approval until concerned Contractors first pay huge ‘bribes’ for their release
“The unnecessary use of a Consultancy Firm, with known ties to key members of the Governing Board, to collect the statutory payment from the NLNG to the NDDC; and be paid Professional Fees for just serving as an unnecessary conduit pipe.”
Also, in the petition, the commission was accused of foul play in an ‘Invitation to Tender’ published by NDDC on Monday in two national dailies.
It stated that the publication; “ Contained no scope of service explaining the purpose of the works/services; Contained no Eligibility Criteria and no Tender Fee; Contained no request for Evidence of Registration of bidders with the National Database of Contractors, Consultants and Service Providers; Relevant Professional Bodies; PENCOM and ITF.”
However, a top official at the NDDC who spoke on conditions of anonymity as he was not authorised to do so, described the allegations as ‘baseless’ and ‘cheap blackmail’.
The source who denied claims that the commission was awarding contracts without due process said; “…..one of the things you cannot claim at the NDDC is awarding a contract without due process. I work there and i can tell you that it is without basis and if you investigate these people, investigate the people behind this, what is their modus operandi, objectives, are they trying to use you to blackmail the government?
“If my life is guaranteed I can stand face to face with this and defend the integrity of the NDDC. I am telling you, investigate it, we are monitored at all levels, NDDC is one of the most monitored agencies of the Federal Government so we cannot afford to do anything untoward”.
He further stated that: “Anybody can submit petition anywhere. Investigate and find veracity to whatever is claimed, you know in this era where people go to the social media to accuse, people must be very careful before they are used as tools in the process of blackmail.
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“Now let me tell you why they are going against the NDDC, they wanted NDDC to come and share money for them for Christmas but that didn’t happen cause the board will not allow it. One of the things you notice about the Niger-Deltans is the culture of indulgence and entitlement and so they will come and make a lot of allegations. Although EFCC is allowed to investigate it. So if they submitted a paper to EFCC and they come to you before the facts claimed are investigated, then there is something funny, it is no longer a call for a judicial process to go through its course it is a ploy to blackmail.
“I am not saying this happened because we did not share rice during Christmas, but I am saying that they are aggrieved because they did not get what they expected. This is not the first time.”
When contacted, the NDDC Director, Corporate Affairs, Mr. Ibitoye Abosede also denied the allegations stressing that all memos receive the management’s approval.
“Based on what was sent to me, i have read what was in it and i can tell you that they are not correct. NDDC is one of those that does its works according to due process. We follow due process in awards of contract.
“Just like the FEC Minister brings memo to FEC for approval and Director brings memo to the management for approval and if management approves this then that is due process when it comes to award of contracts, we advertise, we do request for proposals for procurement of services which is published in two national dailies as stated by the law. So what i can say is that we follow due process in the award of contracts.”
However, in his reactions to the faults pointed out in the recently published “Invitation to Tender”, he described the omission as a mistake saying plans were underway to correct this.
“What i say that was a bit of a mistake was in relation to the advert on monday where the introduction aspect was omitted. That is in relation to the tender published on Monday, it is true that the introductory aspect was omitted but it wasn’t intentional and we are trying to re-publish another between now and Thursday.
“That is the only one i am aware of that is a mistake, it is due to printer error but the corrected version will be published latest by Thursday,” he stated.
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