Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has disclosed that it has started moves to resolved the funding challenges that led to the non-payment of contractors by the commission. NDDC which said it is striving to sanitise its operations also 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. The Managing Director of the Commission, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, who made the declaration during an interactive session with contractors at the Commission’s headquarters in Port Harcourt, yesterday, according to a statement by Ibitoye Abosede the Director, Corporate Affairs, NDDC.
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 noted that neither himself nor the two Executive Directors have authorised anybody to act on their behalf as they are determined to make any sacrifices to bring back sanity to the Commission. The MD 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 NDDC Board to pay off all the debts it has inherited within a short period.
He 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.” Ogbuku 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. He 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. He said “we have to find a way to address the funding challenges that has led to the debts to the contractors.”
