There Will Be Trouble in Nigeria if NDDC Contractors List is Published – Cairo Ojougboh

The executive director of projects at the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Cairo Ojougboh, has said that there will be trouble in Nigeria once the full list of contractors by the commission is released to the public.

Recall that the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs and former Governor of Akwa-Ibom State, Godswill Akpabio, had named some beneficiaries when the Federal House of Representatives threatened to sue him.

Akpabio had said that the lawmakers were the biggest beneficiaries of contracts from the commission listing Peter Nwaoboshi, senate committee chairman on NDDC; Matthew Urhoghide, senate committee chairman on public accounts, and James Manager, senator representing Delta south, as some of the beneficiaries.

The Interim Management Committee, IMC, of the NDDC also accused members of the National Assembly of plotting to stall the forensic audit ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting on Wednesday, 26th August approved the forensic auditing of about 12 thousand NDDC contracts.

Ojougboh noted that the mission of the IMC to the NDDC and the Niger Delta region is to ensure that every naira that had been put into the region through the commission is accounted for and vowed that the committee would dare every odd to ensure that the mission is accomplished, not minding whose ox is gored.

The NDDC Executive Director on Projects took a swipe at the National Assembly for condemning the N51 million monthly imprest for the office of the Acting Managing Director of the Commission and the N18 million imprest for his office, saying that such monies are not personal money but for the upkeep of the place especially in security.

Ojougboh said the sum of N3.14 billion was expended as COVID-19 relief for staff adding that although it was not budgeted for, it was classified as emergency.

“They are talking about COVID-19 payment, the federal government is given every citizen N30,000 each, do you know how much the federal government has spent? The CBN and many other corporations have been giving COVID-19 allowances, which are within their purview, just like NDDC did,” he said.