The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, in Abuja at the weekend, said it was regrettable that some people interpret the pace of acitivities in the ministry as slow and sluggish. But he stated that the ministry was conscious of the prescriptions of the guideline for the development of the region in every step it took.
Reacting to the comments of members of the House of Representatives Committee on Niger Delta Affairs, which last week accused the ministry of withholding implementation of projects in the region, Ekaette said he felt insulted by the law-makers remarks.
Ekaette said the ministry chose to engage the services of professional consultants to design, pland and cost the construction of projects in the region because that was according to the provisions of the Procurement Act.
He also said the ministry decided not to start implementing some projects which the National Assembly initiated in its 2009 budget because the fund which the National Assembly voted for those projects could not accommodate the 15 per cent down payment needed to foot implementation of any projects.
He went on; “I saw on papers all sorts of funny comments about the performance of Niger Delta Affairs Ministry, according to the comments, they said the ministry has not performed but I want to assure you that the ministry is methodical about carrying out its mandate. “We have not gone out of our way to do anything out of guidelines of the Procurement Act,” he said.
“When the ministry came into being late last year, and the ministers appointed late December, we started work in earnest and the first work we did was to tour the entire Niger Delta region to find out the wishes of the people and the way they would want to relate with us. Them we started planning and working towards that end. It is a pity that some of the projects initiated in our budget by the National Assembly do not have adequate fund to carry out those projects.
“At the session with the House of Representatives Committee on Niger Delta, we explained to them that some of the projects they initiated in our budget would be held forthwith because they have no deign, no drawing, no costing. But that not withstanding, we went out of our way to invite consultants to design them, do the costing and get them ready for us to implement but it turned out that the fund initiated for some of those projects could not even pay 15 per cent down payment for starting of projects.”
He added; “The law is that you don’t start a project you don’t have money to make 15 per cent down payment to start. We explained to the committee that, that was why we were unable to implement those projects. The insult I got from some members of the committee was unimaginable.
I have served Nigeria for more than 40 years in various capacities and I will continue to do so, but I had never received that type of insult … I feel that the people should know about it because it is already being reported. I know what is good for this country.
“I have served this country loyally, honestly and I will continue to do so. No amount of insult will compel me to something I know that is not in the best interest of this country. I stand by my word, I stand by the truth to serve Nigeria with all sincerity.”