Some persons under the auspices of the Association of Niger Delta Development Commission Contractors have taken a swipe at the Prof. Nelson Brambaifa-led Management Board of NDDC, accusing it of engaging in corruption and malpractices.
The accusation was made last Saturday during a live radio current affairs programme monitored by The Tide in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
The Chairman of the NDDC Contractors Association, Mr Joe Adia, who made the allegation, said that no tangible achievement has been recorded by the current management of the NDDC, accusing it of deliberately frustrating the contractors, who were being owed billions of Naira for projects executed for the commission.
Denying the claim that the commission has completed over 500 projects within this period, Adia claimed that the acting managing director of NDDC travels frequently to Abuja at the expense of the suffering people of the region, alleging that the present management of NDDC was awarding contracts to Northerners to curry favour from the Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) government.
He accused the management of favouring some contractors against others in the commission, lamenting that some contractors were always accorded more attention by the management.
Adia further stated that the problems facing the NDDC were systematic in nature, arguing that his association has written to the Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo and the House of Representatives on the issue of the huge debts owed contractors, saying that their efforts have not yielded any positive results.
He expressed fears that the commission may never pay the contractors the huge debts despite the promise made by the acting MD to pay the contractors owed below N10million on a regular basis.
“Instead of paying us, the commission is using security personnel to harass and intimidate the contractors at the entrance of the commission”, he added.
Also speaking, Assistant Secretary of the NDDC Contractors Association, Mr. Sonny Bestowe, stated that the commission was far from being a responsible outfit going by the way it was handling its contractors.
He argued that banks were refusing to give credit facility to NDDC contractors because of the fear that NDDC hardly pays her contractors.
Responding on behalf of NDDC, the Special Assistant to the Acting Managing Director on Media, Barrister Chizi Enyi denied all the claims by the contractors.
Enyi stated that Brambaifa has never denied any genuine contractor opportunity for a meeting after proper identification.
He also said that the commission was not going to handle issues of contractors alone, arguing that other issues such as education, agriculture, among others were being handled by the commission.
Enyi described as unfortunate the allegations that the acting MD travelled frequently to Abuja and uses security to harass contractors, and advised contractors to always follow due process in pursuing their cause, and stop the media trial.
He expressed confidence in the ability of the Brambaifa-led management board to address all pending issues, and consolidate efforts to transform the region.

Tamunoiminabo Fineface