Group Backs Probe Of N20bn NDDC Utillisation Fund

THE Africa Network for Environment & Economic Justice (ANEEJ) has backed the call by the Edo State Government for a forensic probe of the activities of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) owing to shoddy, incomplete, abandoned and substandard projects executed by the NDDC in the past six months.

ANEEJ Executive Director, David Ugolor, in a statement yesterday raised concerns over the disheartening report on the appropriation of funds by the NDDC and other Niger Delta Institutions and it’s inability to put the money to good use to meet the collective hopes and aspirations of the people of the Niger-delta. According to him, the report aligns with Citizen Report Card on Niger Delta Institutions published by ANEEJ with support of LITEAfrica in 2015. He said the report found out that across board, most projects being executed by the NDDC and NDIS were either being abandoned, executed in a substandard way or were incomplete. Ugolor further lamented that the 2018 extra 18 percent budgetary allocation has not matched the projects on ground, wondering what the region is doing with the 13% derivation fund.

Ugolor added ‘In addition to the Edo state government’s call for a probe of the NDDC, we call on the federal government to vigorously pursue the blacklisting of all contractors, and the banks as well, which have in one way or the other, worked with these contractors to execute substandard projects.

He noted that the 2015, ANEEJ had recommended that the NDDC be open and transparent and to do proper consultation with communities before embarking on projects, and ensure independent monitoring teams participate in project supervision during project implementations to ensure compliance and quality assurance to avoid substandard or incomplete/abandoned projects.

Abiodun To Prioritise Capital Projects For 2020 Budget

OGUN State Governor, Dapo Abiodun has planned to prioritise capital projects that would be implemented under the state’ s 2020 budget in order to impact on the people.

Speaking on budget and planning at a workshop organised for stakeholders in the information, culture, religion and public order sectors of the state at OkeMosan, Abeokuta, he stated that the implementation of Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), in line with international best practices has begun and tasked MDAS in the state on strategic policies and expenditure framework for the responsibility of even allocation of state’s resources.

He said his administration was committed to adopting world-class public financial management system, with the aim of developing a consistent framework that would improve the allocation of resources to strategic priorities within the major sectors in the state.