The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has asked
Peter Nwaoboshi, chairman of the senate committee on NDDC, to refund a sum of
N2.5 billion.
The commission said the sum was given to the senator for the
supply of plastic desks and chairs for primary and secondary schools in the
region.
Nwaoboshi was named by Godswill Akpabio, minister of Niger
Delta affairs, as one of the lawmakers who benefited from contracts awarded by
the NDDC.
The legislator allegedly got 53 contracts from the commission — an allegation he denied.
In a letter dated July 5 and addressed to Nwaoboshi, Peter
Claver Okoro, NDDC director of legal services, said the contract was fully paid
for but the commission did not receive the items.
Okoro said instead, the desks and chairs were taken to a
warehouse along Benin expressway.
“That sometime in 2017, the Commission awarded contracts to
certain companies for the production of desks and chairs for primary and
secondary schools in the Niger Delta region under the 201 6 budget of the
Commission. The list of the companies is attached as Annexure ‘A’. The total
value of the said contracts was ₦2.552.305,600.00,” he said.
“That the contracts were in furtherance of the commission’s
education sector mandate as catalyst for the improvement of classroom and
learning conditions in the Niger Delta region.
“That instead of supplying the chairs and desks to the
Commission’s warehouse in Port Harcourt or to any of the NDDC offices in the
nine Niger Delta states, the items were supplied to a warehouse described as
Akuede Akwis located at Benin Expressway, Okpanam, before Wichetech Aluminum
Company.
“That the 2019 budget of the commission also contains the
following heads: a. Provisions and supply of Plastic Chairs and Desks for
Primary and Secondary Schools in Delta North Senatorial District (Lots 1-15)
for (Serial No. 21). b. Provisions and supply of Plastic Chairs and Desks for
Primary and Secondary Schools in Delta North Senatorial District (Lots 1-20)
for (Serial No. 33). c. Production and distribution of Desks and Benches in
selected schools in the Niger Delta Region for (Serial No. 396).
“That despite having fully paid for the 2017 contracts for
the production of chairs and desks, the items have not been supplied to the
commission. The resultant effect is that the commission and the Niger Delta
region have been deprived of the use of the desks and chairs.
“That, I have been further directed to demand that you
refund the sum of ₦2,552,305,600.00 to the commission being the contract sums
paid in respect of the said contracts within 14 days of this letter.”
There have been allegations and counter-allegations
following the decision of the national assembly to probe the alleged
mismanagement of funds by the commission.
Nwaoboshi had accused Akpabio of securing a N300 million
fencing contract from the NDDC while he was a senator in the previous assembly.
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