The Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Dr Joi Gbene Nunieh, says the commission has suspended Dr Joi Gbene Nunieh,the monthly payment of N1billion to a consultant that collected money from International Oil Companies (IOCs), on its behalf.
Nunieh, who spoke in an interview with newsmen at the NDDC headquarters in Port Harcourt, yesterday, emphasised that the commission did not need middlemen to collect statutory funds due to it.
She said: “We have a consulting firm engaged as a collection agent. We have another company that also collects 3 per cent whenever money is paid by the IOCs.
“We don’t need a middle man to collect 3 per cent for gas. The money should just be paid into NDDC accounts with the CBN.”
Nunieh stated that political interference were setting the commission back, noting that her desk was overflowing with files waiting for payments, even from companies belonging to one individual.
She asked: “How can someone have 87 companies waiting for payment?”
The NDDC chief executive officer said that in spite of the political interference, she was not going to compromise, stating: “That is why I have suspended the contract of a collection agent. We are no longer going to pay anyone N1billion every month. That is wicked.
“That money can put mono pumps in rural communities in the Niger Delta. It can buy books and set up primary health centres. The three per cent for a consulting firm is over. That is why we are under pressure. But I laugh because those who live in glass houses should never throw stones.”
Nunieh called on Niger Deltans to stand up to protect their region.
According to her, “what is happening is very embarrassing. We must all get up and know that these people have taken our commonwealth.”
The NDDC boss said that things were beginning to look up as many contractors have gone back to site since she mounted the saddle as the MD/CEO.
“We have about 57 contractors that have gone back to site. I am encouraging everyone to go back to site so that things will be done properly. Those that actually execute their contracts will be paid,” she assured.
Addressing the issue of the legitimacy of the three-man Interim Management Committee (IMC), Nunieh wondered why people were misconstruing the situation, observing that although the NDDC Act was silent on the matter of an Interim Management Committee (IMC), the President had the right to set up the body.
She said: “The NDDC Act is clear on the matter of the commission’s chairmanship. It says that after Cross River State, Delta State is supposed to produce the chairman of the NDDC board. If the Act says that after Cross River, Delta should produce the chairman, why would anyone say no?
“When the governors of the South-South states, led by Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State, visited President Muhammadu Buhari, he assured them that he would comply with the Act setting up the NDDC in taking decisions concerning the agency. He said that he would respect the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He also directed that a forensic audit be carried out from 2001 to date, stating that it was only after the audit that he would decide what to do with the commission.”
Nunieh remarked that the NDDC would make sure that everything runs smoothly in the course of the forensic audit ordered by the President.
Affirming that the audit would be deep and detailed, she said this explained the panic in certain quarters.
The acting managing director stressed that her focus was on rural development.
She explained: “We are trying to see how quickly we can get water to every village before long. We will try to see how we can use existing infrastructure to get water to the villages.