₦airaland Forum

TheGoodJoe:
I just met a former neighbor of mine and he exclaimed, the first Manchester city fan I ever met.

I started supporting City in 2010. Before Yaya Toure, Dzeko and David Silva joined the club.

There are city fans who have been supporting the club for a long time and nothing wrong in people supporting City because they identify with what they stand for.

I am sure the club you are supporting now won the EPL before you started supporting the club unlike some of us who supported city before they won their first EPL title.

sylve11:
There should be another sport body that can ban some football clubs from buying players with ridiculous amounts money for life.

Total waste of funds.

Abeg, before you quote me to insult, please insult your father first. It's my view. Because that's what of you are good at.

Thanks.

kikero:
1.Many 25 year olds speak against this government.

2.You...go and form a party. You could be just what Nigeria needs.

BlackfireX:
Please who will buy this country and give me my share??

wirinet:
Most of those oil communities do not have primary schools, health centres or portable water (not even bore holes ), and yet someone will tell me our problems are caused by northerners.

Says payment to contractors made to facilitate budgetary approval
How lawmakers held commission hostage
Count us out of ‘coercion, says construction firm
The Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Prof. Kemebradikumo Daniel Pondei, on Saturday threw a fresh bombshell at the National Assembly over the ongoing probe of the agency by the legislative arm.

Pondei listed some of the contracts he claimed the Commission was coerced by the legislature to pay as a condition for harmonising the agency’s 2019 annual budget.

Some lawmakers, especially members of ad hoc committees, the NDDC boss said, were in the habit of holding the commission hostage over the annual budget approval.

Most of the contracts they were arm-twisted to pay, he said, “were never done or sometimes, never completed.”

Pondei, in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media, Edgar Ebigoni, listed the contracts and benefitting firms to include: Kith Global Ventures Ltd: remedial works at New Ogorode Roads Lot 3, at the cost of N493,684,169.00 and paid on the 17/03/2020; 301 Constr. Ltd: remedial works at Nja Road to Akoku Uno Lot 1, at the cost of N350,027,919.80 and paid on the 17/03/2020; Cracked Stone Constr. Ltd: remedial works at Ajaolubeti

Road Environs Lot 2 at the cost of N394,010,952.10 and paid on the 17/03/2020; Collincrystal Energy Ltd: emergency at Benin Township Road Lot 7, at the cost of N431,053.035.20 and paid on the 17/03/2020; Collincrystal Energy Ltd: emergency at Benin Township Road Lot 3, at the cost of N361,357,276.20 and paid on the 17/03/2020; and Grapik Ltd: emergency at Umudee Internal Road at the cost of N207,673,107.70 and paid on the 17/03/2020.

Others include: Southland Constr. Ltd: remedial works at Umuduru Chukwu Umuorlu Road at the cost of N518,409,089.30 and paid on17/03/2020; Southland Constr. Ltd: remedial works at Umuduru, at the cost of N519,949,949.10 and paid on the 17/03/2020; Grandfox Global Services Ltd: emergency at Ope Road Okigwe LGA, at the cost of N580,438,578.00 and paid on the 17/03/2020; Collincrystal Energy Ltd: emergency at Benin Town Road Lot 6, at the cost of N348,853,184.60 and paid on the 7/03/2020; and Crism Constr. Building Ltd: emergency at Eziama Osuama International Roads Isiala Mbano LGA, at the cost of N561,592,377.80 and paid on the17/03/2020.

Also paid were Argento Ltd: emergency at Benin Township Road Lot 4, at the cost of N382,805,411.60 and paid on the 18/03/2020; Two Rocks Cont. Ltd:remedial works at New Ogorode Road Lot 4, N500,875,848.00 and paid on the 18/03/2020; Elkan Zibson Ltd: emergency repairs of failed and unmotorable sections of Ezumoha Internal Roads Isiala Mbano LGA, at the cost of N531,150,414.29 and paid on the 19/03/2020; Cracked Stone Constr. Ltd: remedial works on failed and unmotorable sections of Benin Township Road Lot 8, at the cost of N417,806,787.01 and paid on the 19/03/2020; Dis Concept and Solutions Ltd: urgently remedy failed and unmotorable sections of Jessy and Jenny Road off Peter Odili Road PHC, at the cost of N476,794,367.22 and paid on the 26/03/2020; Ogugo Concept and Solutions Ltd:emergency repairs of failed and unmotorable sections of environs Yenagoa LGA at the cost of N300,029,695.14 and paid on the 26/03/2020; Webster Global ventures Ltd: construction of emergency repairs of failed and unmotorable sections Benin Township Road Lot 2 Oredo LGA, at the cost of N357,242,054.35 and paid on the 26/03/2020; Webster Global ventures Ltd: remedial works of failed and unmotorable sections of Akuku Illah Road Oshimili North LGA at the cost of N463,489,890.13 and paid on the 26/03/2020; and Webster Global Ventures Ltd: remedial works of failed and unmotorable sections of New Ogorode Road Lot 2 Sapele LGA, at the cost of N 466,416,380.71 and paid on the 26/03/20

Pondei alleged that “this blackmail scheme explains why the 2019 Budget of the NDDC was passed by the NASS Committee in March, 2020.”

He added: “We are talking about a budget that was billed to expire in May, 2020. The implication is that the management of the NDDC had only five weeks to implement the budget of one fiscal year and present a performance report on the same budget.

“This scheme has continued to play out because as at this month of August 2020, the budget of the NDDC for the 2020 fiscal year has not been passed by the Joint National Assembly Committee on NDDC. “Sadly, nobody seems to care to ask questions because people are falling for the well-scripted smokescreen playing out in the two chambers of the National Assembly.



“This document is among the many others tendered before the NASS Committee, which never saw the light of the day, and which the NDDC Committee was never allowed to speak on when they eventually appeared before the Committee, during the public hearing.

“It was based on this evidential claim that the IMC of NDDC staged a walk-out on the first day they were to testify before the committee.

“The details of this list can be verified from the Central Bank of Nigeria through a Freedom of Information (FOI) request.

“Indeed, the same allegation informed the reason all well-meaning Nigerians urged the Committee Chairman, Hon. Tunji-Ojo, to recuse himself from the chairmanship of that hearing. This is in keeping with the Nemo judex in causa sua, which is a Latin phrase that upholds the principle of natural justice that no one can judge a case in which they have an interest.”

Continuing, the NDDC boss said: “It is very unfortunate that against all objective appeals and moral persuasions, Hon. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, alongside some other accused members of the House Committee on NDDC, proceeded to hold a public hearing, which was initially slated for two days, being the 15th and 16th of July 2020, but which effectively ran till 20th of the month, only for him to decide, at his own pace and time, to recuse himself from the hearing on the last day; an action which cast a dark shade on the entire public.

“This is because the same reason for which he recused himself on the last day was enough for him to steer clear from the matter, ab initio.

“The foregoing point to a clear fact that the Committee set out to do a bidding that was never in the interest of the public.

“They obviously needed a public hearing to tell the public what they wanted the public to hear, rather than the facts of the matter.

“The Spokesperson the House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, on a National Television Programme recently, admitted publicly that contractors often approached chairmen of the House Committees and the members, to use their office to compel MDAs to pay them.

“This definitely should be the new height of the abuse of the oath of office they swore not to allow their personal interest interfere with the discharge of their official duties.

“Recall that since these allegations were first made by the Acting Executive Director, Projects, Dr. Cairo Ojougboh on National Television, Hon. Olubumni Tunji-Ojo has not deemed it fit to discountenance the allegations by way of a law suit.”

The statement also gave a detailed breakdown of the contracts which the National Assembly allegedly compelled the NDDC Interim Management Committee to pay before the 2019 budget is harmonised.

READ ALSO: NDDC: Pondei lists contracts allegedly paid under ‘duress’ to get budget approval
Count us out of ‘coercion’, says construction firm

One of the firms mentioned in the statement, Webster Global Ventures, yesterday denied the claim made by the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of NDDC that it used the National Assembly Committee to coerce the agency into making payment to the firm.

Webster Global Ventures described the statement credited to the Acting Managing Director of the NDDC, Prof. Kemebradikumo Daniel Pondei as false, inaccurate and misleading. The company was emphatic that the National Assembly never influenced any payment made to the company by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

Opeolu Adarae, the Operations Director of Webster Global Ventures said in a statement that the National Assembly “never influenced payment made to our company because we completed all projects we handled.”

“We have been in operations for more than 20 years and we have never been linked to any form of fraud as a corporate company.

“Nobody gave us any recommendation and we do not have any business with the National Assembly. As a matter of fact, the Executive Director, Project for the NDDC, Dr Cairo Ojougboh inspected our project and certified it satisfactorily completed before payment was made”.

The Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has decried N11.5bn non-essential contracts smuggled into its 2020 budget ostensibly by members of the National Assembly.

The Acting Executive Director, Dr. Cairo Ojuogboh, said the contracts were for supply of desks and chairs to schools in the Niger Delta region.

A statement by the NDDC Corporate Affairs Director, Charles Odili, quoted Ojuogboh as saying henceforth the commission would only give priority to projects that would impact meaningfully on the region.

He insisted the commission would no longer yield to requests of including such projects in its budget to satisfy selfish considerations.

According to him: “This year alone, they put N11.5billion in the budget for the supply of desks and chairs to schools in the Niger Delta region.

“Where are the schools that you are going to put N11. 5billion worth of chairs and desks in the region?”

Ojougboh assured the commission would resume inspection of its projects across the region despite distractions, adding it was time to get back to the task of developing the Niger Delta region.

He said: “We have had enough of distractions and we have decided not to be bogged down anymore

“We will go about our work with renewed vigor. We are taking a special interest in the desilting projects, because, heavy rains are coming and some areas will be flooded.

“We will visit all the locations because no payments will be made until our engineers, quantity surveyors and the Project Monitoring and Supervision, PMS, have approved.”

He clarified the IMC headed by the Acting Managing Director, Prof. Kemebradikumo Pondei, had only paid for verified jobs that done over the years.

He said contractors now sit in their homes and get alerts without visiting the NDDC office to lobby for payments.

“It has never happened before. Today, you don’t need to come to NDDC to lobby for your payments.

“Once we verify your job performance, we will pay you because a labourer is worthy of his wages,” he said.

Ojougboh expressed delight the 29-kilometre Ogbia-Nembe Road with spurs linking 14 different communities in Bayelsa would soon be commissioned.

“We were there recently on a pre-commissioning visit. Once we get an approved date from the Presidency, we shall let you know,” he said.

He said road, which cuts through the swamps with 10mbridges and 99 culverts, was one of the signature projects executed by the NDDC.

EngineerBode:
Following

MinorityOpinion:
Jargons

fergie001:
https://twitter.com/tvcnewsng/status/1286256760337072128?s=19



https://ait.live/house-of-reps-to-sue-akpabio-over-nddc-contract-allegation/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

wirinet:
Most of those oil communities do not have primary schools, health centres or portable water (not even bore holes ), and yet someone will tell me our problems are caused by northerners.

hisexcellency34:
Temidayo Akinsuyi

Lagos – Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the September 19 gubernatorial election in Edo State, is currently leading Governor Godwin Obaseki, the flagbearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in an online poll conducted by Ripples Nigeria.

The online poll with the headline ‘Who would you vote in the Edo Guber election: Obaseki or Ize-Iyamu has 4,292 votes as at 7:14pm on Wednesday July 22.

In the result, 48 percent of respondents said they will vote for Ize-Iyamu while 46 per cent picked Obaseki. Five percent of the respondents picked other candidates aside the two main challengers.

John Mayaki, the Chairman of the Edo state APC Media Campaign Council, said the poll was sponsored by Governor Godwin Obaseki to test his might.

Crusoe Osagie, Media Aide to Governor Obaseki, could not be reached for his reaction.

https://www.independent.ng/edo-2020-ize-iyamu-leads-obaseki-in-online-poll/

ThatFairGuy1:
Very sad. That's what happens when there is too much billionaires in a country. the margin is too much

ThatFairGuy1:
Those figures are giving headache. Nigeria is handsomely rich. Imagine what They've(politicians, army and citizens) been stealing since second republic till date!

joelobi:
The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) was developed by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration in pursuant of a concerted effort at genuinely developing the Niger Delta region which is blessed with natural resources. Nigeria has built its revenue generation around the income generated from crude oil such that sectors like agriculture have been sacrificed on the altar of oil.

During the administration of former President Obasanjo, agitation heightened in the Niger Delta due to what they perceived as neglect of the region in spite of its contribution to the treasury of the nation. Youths in the area rose in arms destroying pipelines and vandalizing oil installations to attract the attention to the people of the region who were facing underdevelopment and threat to health due to oil spills and harmful waste which contaminated rivers in the region. It was for the purpose of addressing the genuine needs that were raised that the Obasanjo regime established the NDDC to ensure development of the entire Niger Delta region.

Sadly, twenty years down the line, it could be safe to adjudge that the commission is yet to live up to its mandate. President Muhammad Buhari had last year ordered a forensic audit of the account of the NDDC from 2001 to date. The President had claimed that the projects in the region do not reflect the billions of naira that Nigeria allocates to the commission in yearly budgets. The country allocated N80.881 billion to the commission in the 2020 budget prior to its review to N44.200 billion as a fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic which has affected the economy of Nigeria, just like that of most other countries. This gives credence to the claim by the president. For a region that receives such huge sum in budgetary allocation, there should be more impact on the people of the region.

To entrench a new purposeful leadership with a sincere vision to develop the region, the president appointed a new Interim Management Committee (IMC) in October, 2019 headed by Joy Yimebe Nunieh, a lawyer from Ogoni, Rivers State. Nunieh’s take over from Dr. Akwagaga Enyia as the Managing Director of the NDDC would end up lasting four months as she was removed in February, 2020. After her removal, she made some grievous allegations against the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio.

The former MD claims that her removal was prompted by her reformatory policies. She alleged to have stepped on toes when she instituted the contract verification exercise in January 2020 which required contractors to go to the states where the contracts they executed took place, register it and be clarified by an interim panel which was setup for the purpose. Nunieh claims the verification irked bigwigs who got contracts from the commission but never executed them. She credits her removal to such elements who opposed her resolve to stamp out dubious contract execution. Not a few were angry she claims.
She fired shots at Akpabio for masterminding her removal due to her resistance to consent to his acts of corruption. She accused the minister and her successor Pondei of misappropriating fund to the tune of N40 billion naira, an amount that almost equals the 2020 budget of the commission.

Since then, Akpabio has been in a war of words with the former MD after the legislature setup a panel of inquiry to investigate the alleged mismanagement of fund. Akpabio denied any involvement in the management of fund during the tenure of Nunieh claiming she never gave him financial briefings. Just yesterday, the country was greeted with a sight which no longer appears surprising from its political actors, when the current Acting Managing Director of the NDDC, Kemebradikumo Daniel Pondei, a medical doctor by profession fainted on live Television during a hearing by the House of Representatives Ad hoc committee. Pondei fainted while entertaining questions from lawmakers on the spending of the commission under his watch.

The Bayelsa State Professor who has since been discharged from the hospital claims he attended the hearing against the advice of his doctors. NDDC says Pondei has been ill for the past two weeks but felt the need to attend the hearing to clear his name. Akpabio who took to the podium shortly after Pondei was rushed out for medical accused the lawmakers of being the biggest beneficiaries of contracts awarded by the commission. When quizzed by a lawmaker on his claims, Akpabio said, “I just told you that we have records to show that most of the contracts in the NDDC are given to members of the National Assembly.”

The failure of the NDDC to live up to its mandate goes a long way to buttress the many challenges stagnating the growth of Nigeria. Just recently, the chief anti-corruption officer, Ibrahim Magu was embroiled in a corruption scandal which he is yet to be absolve of. It will not be surprising to see the NDDC inquiry go in the direction of Dasukigate and Maina saga which till date remain inconclusive. Given the role which the lawmakers are claimed to have played in contract execution, it won’t be unheard of in Nigeria for the actors to resort to roundtable agreement to settle the discrepancies.

However, if the NDDC is to fulfill its mandate, this inquiry should be followed up to its conclusion and the looters, if any, brought to book.

source: http://www.africannewstoday.com/politics/nddc-gate-another-gory-exposure-of-an-ailing-nation/

SweetiliciousD:
You mean those law breakers makers?

RentedReality:
H

Buksaylor:
So because of that there's no fraud in NDDC....
Sowore just go sleep ....you think we don't know that you follow chop the Kanda ....

Ramseyj:
How can someone with criminal allegations on head be presiding over corruption probe.
Declaring him wanted wasn't necessary, ICPC should have laid a siege at the complex and whisk him away to go answer for his crimes

NaijaRoyalty:
Only in Nigeria a wanted criminal interrogates another criminal .

Naija which way?

REVEALED: Lawmaker On Panel Interrogating NDDC Acting MD, Pondei, When He Fainted Was Declared Wanted By ICPC For Corruption In 2019

Shehu Koko, a member of the House of Representatives panel that interrogated Prof Kemebradikumo Pondei, Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, on Monday when he fainted, was in 2019 declared wanted by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission for corruption, findings by SaharaReporters have revealed.

Pondei fainted during the televised hearing into the alleged mismanagement of N81.5bn by the Interim Management Committee of the NDDC on Monday, causing commotion at the venue of the probe.

Several persons present at the hearing rushed to his aid, attempting to stabilise him from what appears to be a seizure.

SaharaReporters gathered that Koko, a lawmaker from Kebbi State, was on December 12, 2019 declared wanted after he repeatedly failed to appear before the ICPC over an ongoing investigation against him.

According to Rasheedat Okoduwa, ICPC Director of Public Enlightenment, the lawmaker failed to perfect his administrative bail and ignored the commission’s invitation

“Hon. Shehu Koko Mohammed is hereby declared wanted by the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission for his failure to appear before the commission for an ongoing investigation against him. He was declared wanted for failing to perfect his bail conditions.

“He was granted administrative bail by ICPC after he was earlier invited for questioning regarding the alleged fraudulent acquisition of properties, using his position to confer undue advantage on himself while serving as ADC to a former governor of Katsina State.

“Anyone who has useful information on his whereabouts should report to ICPC Headquarters Abuja, any of the ICPC state offices or the nearest police station.”

The anti-graft agency however, on its Twitter page on December 14, 2019 disclosed that Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, had intervened in the matter.

The tweet read, “Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, has guaranteed the appearance of Hon. Shehu Koko Mohammed who represents Koko/Besse Federal Constituency declared wanted by ICPC.

“The commission accepts the assurance while it looks forward to seeing the honourable member by Monday, 16th December, 2019.

“Hon. Mohammed had failed to perfect his administrative bail and ignored the commission’s invitations.”

After that period, the outcome of the investigation was not made public anymore and Koko has since returned to the House of Representatives to continue his duty as a legislator.

jadesoletee:
https://www.vanguardngr.com/2020/07/nddc-probe-nycn-calls-for-akpabios-suspension/

jadesoletee:
https://www.vanguardngr.com/2020/07/nddc-probe-nycn-calls-for-akpabios-suspension/

junketer:
i knew man city would win the appeal after what was done when man city and chelsea were found guilty of improper transfers. Chelsea were banned for two transfer Windows but man city got 300 thousand fine. For same offense.