Minister of Niger Delta faults report on NDDC projects in Akwa Ibom

The Minister of Niger Delta, Mr Usani Uguru Usani, has strongly

dissociated himself from media reports suggesting that he holds the

current Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (

NDDC), Mr Nsima Ekere, responsible for poor projects delivery in Akwa

Ibom state.

In a statement signed by him, Mr Useni described the reports as

malicious, stating that  “ they do not convey any coherent correlation

between my views and the role of the current management for the deeds

that span more than one decade.”

The Minster said whereas he expressed “discontent for obvious

observations of poor project execution” during his visit to Uyo, the

Akwa Ibom State capital, he pointed out that “there is no vestige of

attributing the cause to the current management.”

The Minister said he is conscious of the fact that his observation predates the current management which places no burden of liability on the current Managing Director, adding that he made no committal pronouncement on the claims of reporting certain unaccomplished projects as completed because he never sighted any such documentary content of claims.

“It is reminiscent of simple reasoning to note that we cannot blame a five-month old management of the deeds that span for more than one decade,” he declared.

Reacting to the reports of allegations of abandoned projects, a  stakeholder in the state and senior citizen, Chief Edet Nkpubre, said it is cheap blackmail to associate abandoned projects in the Commission to the present board and management.

Chief Nkpubre, in an interview, explained that when the Managing Director assumed office barely five months ago, he made it clear he was going to ensure that all the projects were completed.

He said while Mr Ekere is making effort to correct the anomalies he met in the commission, the people of the region should give him time to adequately address the problem of abandoned projects.

He said: “All these stories of abandoned projects and blaming same on the present management of the commission boils down to the politics of 2019 in the state. And that is regrettable. It is impossible to assess the managing director in just five months.”

Also reacting, another stakeholder in the state, Chief Sunny Jackson, said Mr Ekere should rather be commended for what he has done for the state, in particular, and the Niger Delta in general.

Chief Jackson said even though there are incidences of abandoned projects in the commission, credit should be given to the present management for taking positive steps to resolve them, by ordering contractors to go back to site.

It will be recalled that the Managing Director of the commission had earlier given contractors handling projects in the commission 30 days to return to site, in order to complete all on-going projects in the region or face prosecution.

The Commission, in a statement in Port Harcourt the Rivers State capital, had explained that it had become imperative to fast track the on-going audit of projects awarded in the region, in line with the Federal Government’s directives as one of the planks of the new Governing Board’s 4-R Initiative, which is to restructure the balance sheet of the Commission and determine poor performing projects.

Mr Ekere had said: “It is important for our contractors to realise it can’t be business as usual as President Muhammadu Buhari is determined to change how government business is conducted and everyone must wake up to that reality. But beyond that is the fact that we owe the Niger Delta region and our people the duty to implement and complete these projects, in order to facilitate sustainable regional development.”