The Interim Management Committee
(IMC) of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) says those who got
“emergency contracts” are scared of the ongoing forensic audit.
The Senate had noted Pondei and
other IMC members got 20 – 30 percent of contract sums before contractors are
paid.
It cited the submission by the
Chairman, NDDC Contractors, Joe Adia.
The Ad-hoc committee probing the
multi-billion Naira scandal in NDDC is chaired by Senator Olubunmi Adetunmbi
(APC – Ekiti North).
Members are Senators Jika Dauda
Haliru (APC – Bauchi Central); Mohammed Tanko Almakura (APC – Nasarawa South);
Abdulfatai Buhari (APC – Oyo North); Chukwuka Utazi (PDP – Enugu North);
Ibrahim Hadeija (APC – Jigawa North); and Biobarakuma Wangaha (APC – Bayelsa
East).
The committee said claims by the
IMC and Minister for Niger Delta, Godswill Akpabio, that NDCC headquarters was
95 percent is false.
In a statement on Monday, Edgar
Ebigoni, spokesman to Acting MD, Kemebradikumo Pondei, recalled that Pondei denied
the allegations and challenged anyone to come forward with evidence.
He said Pondei stated that he
never requested or received kickbacks.
“It is therefore surprising and
disappointing the Senate Committee can be attributed with unproven allegations
as their final report,” he said.
Ebigoni said the committee chose
to believe the naysayers who claimed that the NDDC headquarters was not nearing
completion.
“Whatever made the Senate Ad-Hoc
sit in Abuja to accept a negative report rather than accept the challenge of
the IMC to visit the headquarters themselves, for an unbiased assessment, is
yet unknown. The admittance of the committee that the Forensic Audit is ongoing
is a welcome development,” he added.
He noted that the “those
mentioned in the emergency contract sleaze” were trying to get back at the IMC
“for daring to name and shame those who have held the commission and the region
hostage for years.
“The siege is finally broken. Neither
Pondei nor any member of the IMC has sought or received any bribe for
performing their duties. The Forensic Audit will actually unravel the issue of
over invoicing and contract inflation, among other things. It will follow the
money trail and expose those who shared such monies with the contractors.
“The IMC has been undertaking a
painstaking evaluation of projects before approving any historical debt
payment, no matter the level of documentary progress already recorded. Previous
project valuations have been slashed and actual value of work done determined.
“Most emergency contractors are
therefore no longer getting the humongous figures they had been promised by
their co-conspirators within the Commission. The reduced payment is a saving
for the Commission and the Niger Delta, not a payment for the persons in the
IMC or the Commission.”
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