Uncovered: Monumental Fraud at NDDC

Written by admin // October 3, 2012 // 0 Comments

GEB NNDC

Chairman, Board Members of the Commission fingered for allegedly diverting Billions of Naira!

By OHIA ISRAEL

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) was set up by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2000 with the sole mandate of developing the oil-rich Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria. In furthering the even distribution of these development, Late President Umaru Yar’Adua in September 2008, announced the formation of a Niger Delta Ministry, with the Niger Delta Development Commission to become a parastatal under the Ministry.
But today, this commission stinks according to an open letter with documents submitted to the office of the President, which states that the NDDC stinks as the Commission is in total decay as a result of corruption.
The said petition entitled: NDDC STINKS: Reckless Looting and Fraud by The Managing Director, Executive Directors & Board Chairman which was submitted by a group known as Niger Delta Contractors Coalition located at 45 Sapele Road, Enerhen- Warri, Delta State and signed by its chairman and secretary Engr. Evwierhurhoma Agbagoro (MNSE) and Engr. Unyime H. Enang (MNSE) respectively, the Group alleged that the Commission reeks and called on the President to as a matter of urgency look into the commission before it collapses.
The Group bemoaned the continued recklessness of the incompetent management of the Niger Delta Development Commission led by Dr. Chris Oboh and the highly inept board led by Dr. Tebipah Tarila, saying the current board was inaugurated eight months ago and from that day till now no single project has been commissioned in the Niger Delta.
“What they did was to stampede on-going projects and remove them from the budget to give room for fresh contract awards to themselves, their alter-egos and their cronies. By stalling and frustrating previously awarded projects, they were able to reserve available funds for the payment of their own newly awarded projects. When we protested to the Presidency, this board began to release payments to contractors in bits and stopped after a few weeks. Presently, over two hundred contractors who have completed their projects are either waiting for mobilization fees or have their interim payment certificates stuck in the MD’s office for over 5 months now.
“Mr. President, some months ago we petitioned you to intervene in the fraudulent structuring of the NDDC 2011 budget in which only 15% provision was approved for on-going projects, meaning that it will take at least 6 to 7 years to complete a project, no matter how small the project is. Whereas, the new projects awarded by the Dr. Chris Oboh led management which they sold for upfront payments of 155 per cent of the contract sum per project, were fully funded in the budget. This much unattended issue raised then has resulted in the non-payment of contractors who have genuinely completed their projects or achieved defined milestones, for flimsy reasons of insufficient funding of the projects in the 2011 approved budget,” the group stated.
According to the petitioners, Projects are awarded recklessly because the Presidency in an unprecedented blunder raised the approval margin of the board of NDDC from N250Million to N1 billion. Citing examples, they also alleged that such projects include the Canalization of Agoba Bou Creek in Ogbeinama, Bomadi, Delta State which was awarded on March 29, 2012 at the sum of N994.5m. This canalization only involves opening less than 100 metres of short mangrove. The maximum this project was estimated to cost after evaluation by their civil engineers is N84m and now the balance of N900m goes into the pockets of the MD. While on the same date the Construction and Equipping of the Niger Delta Regional Technical College/Craft Development Schools (Pilot schemes for Rivers, Ondo, Bayelsa, Delta) was also awarded to – Joraga Ltd, Ancome Integrated and Hammakopp Consortium fronted by the Managing Director, each at the value of N997.645m, with mobilization being paid to all companies.
They also stated that internal roads in Edemeya community, in Akwa Ibom State, with population of less than 3000 people were awarded at N800m to Kanash Engineering and Construction, pointing out that Edemeya has a stretch of 1.6km of unpaved roads; also same was done for Ukpum Okon internal roads which were awarded at N600m to Aniekpong Integrated Services. The petitioners also alleged that Okpum Okon in fact has a cumulative length of 1.3km of unpaved roads. The rehabilitation of Mbikpong Ikot Udo Ekpo-Mbiokporo Road, a road project undertaken by Gov. Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State was awarded to Benest Tech Services Ltd for N999.99million and the road is 2.5km long.
The Chairman was also alleged to have awarded the electrical projects for the connection of three linear communities in Ekeremor LGA to the National Grid at N670M to Deastern Elect & Mech; (the same electrical company fronting for the Chairman was awarded a silly project – Construction of St. Saviour Street in Edo State at N3.17bn.
The petitioners cited Governor Oshiomhole as example, claiming that he would have done a 40km road with the same amount. But most laughable was the award for the installation of 64 (poles) solar lights in Sagbama for N448, 453,675.08 to Emarid Ventures (meaning each solar pole costs N 7Million). Also, they went on, another award of contracts for the Opokuma Shore Protection (completion) to Ebitoks Nigeria Limited for 998.7m, leaves much to desired. Meanwhile, this job had been fully funded by the previous board.

The chairman’s penchant for using awards of contracts to make money continues since the last 8 months he came on board as also in Delta the 2km Ogbeinama community (Bomadi LGA) concrete pavement was awarded to Consolim Solution Ltd at N949, 552,600.45, even as the estimated actual cost for this project is N150M.
The same thing was also done for Ogriagbene community internal road which was awarded to Asigo Company Limited at N948,500,200.45, a community that just has a cumulative length of 1.73km of internal roads and no bridge is required; in the actual sense the estimate cost is N91.5m.
Another dubious award is seen in the award of N7.5 billion Ahoada-Izombe Road and Bridges (Phase 2) to himself at the sum of N7,419,942,200.00 (N7. 419B) using their family company PORTSMAN FOUNDATION & CIVIL WORKS LTD of which his siblings, including his younger brother, Mr. Kingsley Oboh Okechukwu, a staff of the NDDC are directors. All the projects awarded by this board to themselves and fronts are flat-out dubious, even as CAC documents were attached as evidence showing the directors of the company.
However, something remarkable came out for the first time in the history of the commission as some staff and serving directors refused to compromise on these fraudulent awards and resisted the pressure of the board, especially the Managing Director, an act which earned them redeployment to state offices as retribution for standing up to evil.
Similarly, an emergency road repair project in Abia State which was awarded to one of the numerous companies owned by Mr. Alloy Nwagboso, the Abia State Representative on the board, at a contract sum of N224 million and was allegedly completed in less than 2 weeks was found to have an actual value of N28 million by Project Monitoring officials who went for inspection. Thereafter when it was time to raise payment certificate, they valued the work done to be at the tune of N28 million amidst threats of sack from the State Representative, the closest ally in the board to the Managing Director.
Meanwhile, the Project Monitoring Director and all the officers that refused to pay for the over-bloated contract were redeployed from the NDDC head office to various State offices and as well demoted. The increasing systemic corruption of the commission continues to grow even as the petition states another heavy scam in the award of contracts for the emergency transportation Tank and tower from Structec warehouse in Lagos to NDDC warehouse in Port Harcourt. It was learnt that this contract was awarded at the rate of N94, 500,000.00 (Ninety Million, Five Hundred thousand Naira only), which in actual cost it will take the sum of not more than a million naira to haul the tank and tower. The contract was awarded to OKMAA (WA) Ltd, even as there is no such thing as ‘Emergency Transportation’ in the procurement act and as the tank in question won’t be freighted by air or sea from a European country to Port Harcourt.
The Contract for the Otuoke Multipurpose Market valued at N2.1b and contract for the Construction of Palm Road worth N2.8 billion are shamelessly being hawked through agents for 15 %. The petitioners also alleged that the board has removed over 800 already awarded projects from the draft list of projects approved by the Parastatal’s Tender Board in 2010, therefore making it impossible to execute those projects. Instead, they have squeezed in over 900 of such dubious projects which they have either sold at between 15 to 20% to contractors, or awarded to themselves.
In a breach of the Procurement Act of 2007, (and for the time first in NDDC history) 85 consultancy contracts were awarded without prequalification. The contracts were flagrantly awarded in lump sums ranging from N25m to N240m instead of the FG approved scale of fees, just as hundreds of contractors have still not been mobilized over a year after projects have been awarded.
However, there was the stalling of Water, electricity, canalization, health and education projects all across the Niger Delta with no single project being commissioned in one year by the NDDC, an act which has made the Contractors and banks to lose confidence in the commission and since payment to contractors have become a problem, almost all contractors have abandoned their project sites.
The petitioners in their prayers urged the President to as matter of urgency see that all projects awarded by the NDDC board be investigated by the EFCC, ICPC and the Presidential Committee on the NDDC. While asking the President to look into the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), as according to them the institution has been severely compromised and its leadership is a share-holder in the loot, which also includes the SGF’s office, the petitioners branded them as having a lion share of the loot.
Other prayers include that all projects that were unjustly removed from the 2011 draft budget and all on-going projects for which agreements have been signed between the commission and the contractors be included in the 2012 budget which is presently before the national assembly, and adequately funded. It prayed also that all the directors and staff unjustly sent to state offices for challenging corruption be returned immediately while they also seek that the selective mobilization/payment of contractors be investigated.
The clarion call from the petitioners was for all the recently awarded and over-bloated contracts that almost grounded the commission, especially those between 300m to 1 billion and those between 1 billion and above be thoroughly investigated by a presidential team of reputable and experienced projects inspectors and professionals as more cans of worms will be discovered.

Chairman, Board Members of the Commission fingered for allegedly diverting Billions of Naira!

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