NDDC to contractors: don’t pay kickbacks to any middleman

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has declared illegal the payment of percentages on contract sums, kickbacks and other financial inducements to middlemen, who usually claim to be fronting for the commission’s officials.

The Managing Director, NDDC, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, made the declaration on Friday during an interactive session with contractors at the Commission’s headquarters in Port Harcourt.

Ogbuku described the contractors as partners in the development of the Niger Delta region and stressed that they should resist the temptation of falling victims to persons posing as agents of the executive directors and directors to collect part of their contract sums.

Ogbuku stated that neither himself nor the two executive directors had authorised anybody to act on their behalf insisting that they were determined to make any sacrifice to restore sanity to the commission and reposition it for efficient service delivery.

While identifying with the many challenges of contractors arising from delays in the payments for jobs, he regretted the impossibility for the current NDDC board to offset all the debts it had 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 projects.

“We have to find a way to address the funding challenges that has led to the debts to the contractors”, he said.

Ogbuku assured that the meeting with the contractors would be periodic as one of the measures to address the debt burden on the NDDC.

He explained that the commission had set up a committee to streamline the payment of outstanding debts.

Earlier in his opening remarks, the NDDC Executive Director Projects, Mr. Charles Ogunmola, said that the new leadership was ready to make a difference that would bring changes in the Niger Delta region.

He said: “We are at a new dawn at the NDDC. We need to collaborate to do things the right way and we want to see you as partners in the development of the Niger Delta region.”

The Chairman of the NDDC Contractors Association, Mr. Joe Adia, in his remarks, commended the NDDC for initiating the interactive forum, but noted that contractors were “eager to hear when the payment of the debts will commence”.

He said that the meeting was long overdue and that contractors were concerned about the delayed payments.

Adia called for synergy between the NDDC and its contractors, adding that the Contractor’s Association was in a position to assist the Commission to get its outstanding funds from the oil companies.