An infrastructure watchdog, Abia Infrastructure Mandate (AIM), yesterday took a swipe on NDDC over a published list of over 70 roads projects executed in Abia state in which more than N30 Billion naira was spent but yet failed to make any impact in improving the roads infrastructure in the state.
According to the group, “NDDC merely publishing the list of erring contractors without prosecuting them for contract breach shows they’re unmindful of their constitutional Mandate to be an interventionist commission to bridge the gap of infrastructure in the oil producing states.”
A release by the group through its Convener, Engr. Odo Ijere accused NDDC of contrived complicity of keeping Abia state, a major oil bearing state outside the compass of its development mandate by colluding with contractors to shortchange and rob us of our rights.
According to Ijere, projects published by NDDC as completed were mere conduit pipes for money laundering schemes, settlement of some vested interests, while some were mere paperwork to steal funds.
“Most of the projects mentioned in the NDDC publication were not on ground, no contractor showed up, and in some cases, the projects and the sites mentioned just didn’t exist. Some of the projects like the Umuahia/Uzuakoli/Bende or Uzuakoli/Item/Bende awarded to SLOK were repeated several times in what appears a money laundering scam.”
Engineer Odo Ijere in the release challenged NDDC to make public the addresses of the beneficiary companies to make it possible for the Abia people being shortchanged and denied their rights to go after them.
He vowed to unleash every instrumentality of the group’s public advocacy to ensure that both NDDC and the beneficiary contractors are held accountable for all the billions paid out in the name of Abia Infrastructure. Some of the options being considered by the group is to call out Abians in a massive protest to challenge the injustice done to the state by both NDDC and wicked contractors.
The release further called on the anti graft agencies to bring both the contractors and NDDC to book.
