….Faults Elongation of Tenure of Interim Management Committee
By Our Reporter
Abuja (Precise Post) – The Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the Niger Delta Development Commission has been accused of embarking on a contract award spree even when such contracts have no social impact on the people in Niger Delta.
National Coordinator, Niger Delta Rights Advocates, Darlington Nwauju, who made the allegation, also faulted the decision of President Muhammadu Buhari to elongate the tenure of the Interim Management Committee (IMC) instead of putting in place a substantive board.
Are you worried that President Buhari just extended the IMC tenure amid allegation of contract racketeering?
According to him, the President was misinformed into taking this decision.
“If you look at the trend of things, how and when that decision or announcement came, you could link it to the pressure mounted on the Interim Management Committee (IMC), and the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs for the N5.4b contract for the supply of COVID-19 medical consumables and Personnel Protective Equipment (PPE). I listened to a programme on Channels Television when NDDC’s acting Executive Director of Projects, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh agreed that, whereas Mr. President had actually given approval for the NDDC to intervene in COVID-19, the IMC did not know the figure approved by the President.
“However, from everything surrounding the contract award, it appears there was attempts to cover up what the media, in consonance with civil societies have successfully exposed- fraud. As we speak now, even the Director General, Nigeria Centre for Diseases Control (NCDC), Dr. Chikwe Ihekweazu, has said that the instruction they have given to suppliers to supply medical kits have not been attested to.
‘In the whole world there is a shortage of medical kits. So, the question is where is the NDDC intending to source their medical kits from? Knowing full well that the NCDC being the clearinghouse for the fight against Coronavirus is yet to take delivery for the ones that it placed orders for. What magic will the NDDC conjure to take delivery of medical kits at this point in time that the virus is threatening as we are now witnessing community spread?
“My argument is simple. I am not trying to paint anybody black, but all I am saying is let us use simple reasoning. How logical is such a contract at this point in time? How impactful can it be because there must be social impact for every contract awarded by the NDDC because that is the reason and intendment for the establishment of the interventionist agency. When something is an emergency, it requires an intervention. Is it when people are dying in hundreds or thousands in the Niger Delta that those kits will finally arrive?
Nwauju further said that he is of the view that people are using COVID-19 pandemic as alibi to defraud the NDDC. Justifying his assertion he said: “The total package of intervention for Coronavirus disease, that is the palliatives packaged to support each of the nine oil-producing states is N100m. Now, there is another N270m that was released to the youths to encourage them to continue to stay at home while solutions are proffered by the federal and state governments. Now, the issue is how was the N270m for the youths even shared? That one is shrouded in complete secrecy. So, I am saying that these processes in the NDDC are not transparent and are not even intending to be transparent.
Culled from Guardian
