An unnamed serving senator involved in the screening of Niger Delta Development Commission, (NDDC) board is alleged to be behind 300 ghost contract jobs with the commission.
The Interim Management Committee Executive Director of Project, Cairo Ojougboh, who raised the alarm over allegation, said the commission had fully paid for 120 of the contracts without the Senator mobilising workforce to sites.
This is coming after President Muhammadu Buhari ordered a forensic audit of the operations of the NDDC from 2001 to 2019 over several criticisms that have accompanied the running of the commission.
Addressing journalists in Abuja, Ojougboh also said about N3 trillion phantom contract was paid to ghost contractors in the commission.
This is Godswill Akpabio, minister of Niger Delta Affairs, speaking recently during an interview with the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), alerted that some corrupt people treated the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) like an automated teller machine (ATM).
Ojougboh said 10 audit firms had been engaged to audit the financial records of the NDDC.
The former member of the House of Representatives said, “The NDDC is owing over N3 trillion to phantom contractors. It is these contractors that are making this noise because they know the interim management will not compromise.
“The genuine contractors have not been paid while phantom contractors have been paid. Some of the contracts have been terminated but the contractors failed to return money.”
Meanwhile, Akpabio said the call for his removal would not deter him from his determination to ensure that those who did not deliver the projects paid for by the commission were made to account for the money they got.
A statement by the Head, Press and Public Relations at the ministry, Patricia Deworitshe, said the minister stated this during a visit by the Akwa-Cross ex-agitators to his office in Abuja on Friday.
According to the statement from Deworitshe, Akpabio said so much money had been given to the NDDC over the years but nothing commensurate was on the ground.
The statement read, “The minister promised to reposition the Niger Delta Development Commission by making life better for the people of the region, vowing that he would not be deterred by the campaign of calumny by some faceless individuals who have benefitted over the years from commission.”
