NDDC Owing Contractors N50b, Minister Tells N/Assembly
The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) owes contractors N50 billion, Niger Delta Affairs Minister Abubakar Momoh said yesterday.
He explained that the amount covered executed, ongoing and abandoned projects in the region.
Momoh, an engineer, who defended the budget allocated to his ministry before the National Assembly, lamented what he described as a meagre allocation.
But, the defence was later stepped down by the National Assembly Joint Committee on Niger Delta Affairs, after summoning the Minister of Finance, Mr. Wale Edun, and his Budget and Economic Planning counterpart, Senator Atiku Bagudu, to appear before it.
A member of the committee, Senator Seriake Dickson, raised a motion to adjourn the sitting indefinitely until both ministers appear along with Momoh to shed light on the poor budgetary allocation to the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs and fund released for projects.
Momoh, who called for increased budgetary allocation to his ministry, said the amnesty programme, which focuses on disarmament was now involved in empowerment programmes.
He said: “There are alot of programmes going on in the Niger Delta, which ordinarily should be done by the ministry.”
He said for the 2023 budget performance, the budget estimate was N14.5 billion, adding that while N11 billion was later approved, only N4.2 billion was released.
Momoh added: “A total of 14.5 billion was the estimate, including capital, recurrent and overheads. But, what came to the ministry was just N4.2 billion out of the N11 billion that was approved. The 2023 budget performance is put at 37 percent,” Momoh said.
“The N14 billion budget estimate is meagre to meet the requirements of the ministry. How many kilometers of road can N4 billion.
“We have a lot of abandoned projects. We have a lot of completed projects. Those that have been awarded and have not been paid are worth over N50 billion,” Momoh said.
“Since I took over, I’ve gotten over 2,000 requests from people asking for training in the Niger Delta. If I have the required resources, be assured that I will do a lot.”
The minister said while he has not discussed the N50 billion owed to contractors, the Ministry of Finance was aware of the debt.
Momoh said out of the 2023 budgetary provision of N11billion, only N4billion was released from the capital budget.
He said the amount represented about 37 per cent, adding that it was inadequate to meet the challenges of the region.
He said: “This grossly inadequate budget has led to project abandonment and unpaid projects and so, this paucity of funds can lead to the derailment of the mission and vision of the ministy.”
Momoh lamented that the training and empowerment of women and youths have been slowed down by paucity of funds.
He stressed: “We have signed performance bond with the President but with paucity of funds there’s nothing we can do.
“The purse of the nation is in your hands as lawmakers. We need you to empower the ministry to deliver. We do hope that with your approval, you will give us support for more and better funds release in the 2024 budget.”
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Niger Delta, Babajide Ipinsagba, said the contractors should be paid before some on them took loans to execute the projects.
Ipinsagba objected to the cash plan of the agency, saying:”If a contractor completed his job, it is expected that once the Minister approves you should get your money in two weeks.
“But you have to upload the approval and another person will determine if there is money to pay for the job done.”
Also, the House of Representatives Committee Chairman on Niger Delta, Ugonna Ozurigbo, urged the minister to identify projects he can complete and commission, instead of embarking on projects that will later be abandoned.
Source: Sweet crude
