By Bob MajiriOghene Etemiku
Benin City, Nigeria – Africa Network for Environment & Economic Justice (ANEEJ) has called on the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to publish the names of the 600 contractors it recently suspended for the abandonment of projects worth N200bn.
The organization also saluted the courage of the agency for such an action and its resolve to prosecute the defaulting banks and contractors linked to the cancelled contracts.
ANEEJ Executive Director, Rev David Ugolor made the call and commendation following the parley which the NDDC had with members of the press during the week.
Ugolor expressed delight with this initial outcome of the presentation of ANEEJ Citizens Report Card (CRC) to Acting President Yemi Osinbajo by him (Ugolor) when he visited Benin on a fact-finding mission in March 2017.
The CRC is a thorough investigation of projects being executed by the NDDC in 6 Niger Delta States, and was carried out by ANEEJ & its partner organisation, LITE Africa.
Beyond the suspension of these bogus contracts, Ugolor insisted, “the NDDC must initiate moves at publishing the names and identities of these contractors.”
In May 2016, Nigeria signed on to the Open Government Partnership (OGP), where it committed to a National Action Plan of access to information, citizen participation, fiscal transparency, and zero-tolerance for corruption.
“If the names of the contractors are published, ANEEJ verily believes that it would allow citizens to unmask the real perpetrators of abandoned contracts and help Niger Deltans to demand inclusiveness in the determination of contracts relevant to their communities,” Ugolor asserted.
“After the blacklisting of the 600 errant contractors, ANEEJ wants the NDDC to get NGOs, stakeholders and relevant activists in the Niger Delta to be part of the procurement processes involved in the award of contracts for projects in the Niger Delta communities.”
Several weeks before the sanctions imposed on the 600 contractors, the Minister of Niger Delta, Pastor Usani Uguru Usani had alleged at a Federal Executive Council meeting that apart from a whopping N700billion allegedly stolen from his Ministry, another N423billion appropriated for project implementation in the Niger Delta, has been misappropriated and could not be accounted for.
Rev Ugolor said beside the prosecution of the perpetrators of such frauds, NDDC should put the recovered funds to use in the completion of either ongoing or abandoned projects in the Niger Delta.
“If that gets done, ANEEJ verily believes that the much-desired transformation of the Niger Delta would be accomplished,” Ugolor said.
