NDDC Yet To Accounts For 15.3 Billion Contract Sum - CSCAN


By Aviashima Toom, Abuja

Civil Society Coalition on Audit in Nigeria (CSCAN), says, about 15.3 billion NDDC Contract Sum is yet to be Accounted for.

The coalition, which includes Paradigm Leadership Support Initiative (PLSI), BudglT Foundation, Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), Dataphyte, Step Up Nigeria, Accountability Lab, Centre for Health, Equity and Justice (CEHEJ), Basic Rights Watch, Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) and media executives in Nigeria revealed most of the projects were either completely abandoned or poorly implemented.

Speaking Wednesday on behalf of CSCAN in Abuja, Executive Director of PLSI, Olusegun Elemo, said review and analysis of and physical assessment of projects revealed the waste of resources in the NDDC.

He explained that, within the last six months (March-August 2021) the Coalition was able to monitor 115 priority projects out of 176 contracts highlighted in its review and analysis of Compliance Audit Report of the Auditor-General for the Federation on NDDC.

He said the Fiscal Performance
of the 115 projects shows that the contracts awarded amounted to 98.5 Billion, payments to contractors was 61.8 billion, while the total sum of 15.3 billion is yet to be Accounted for.

According to him, 6(six) of these projects are on education, one (1) related to health 4 on water, 74 are on road infrastructure, while 29 fell within other categories.

"Our independent findings on these 115 projects revealed that 46 of the projects had been executed, 12 of them executed with irregularities, 2 were partially executed, 4 other projects were executed by other agencies, 3 projects are not executed at all, 19 of the projects were poorly implemented, 11 are still abandoned while 18 of the projects had no trackable location" Elemo said

Also speaking, Principal Lead of BudgIT Foundation, Gabriel Okeowo, said that  "with the forensic audit ordered by president Buhari now concluded and report indicating over 13,700 poorly executed and unverified projects by NDDC despite 6 trillion allocation it receieved from 2001 to 2029, it will be in the interest of the people of Niger Delta and by extension Nigeria for the federal government led by president Mohammedu Buhari to make the full report of the forensic audit exercise public and religiously implement recommended sanctions and reform to reposition the Niger Delta Commission for improved performance"

On her part, Program Director, Step Up Nigeria, Zainab Haruna urged the National Assembly through its committee on Public Account and anti-corruption agencies to look at the findings contained in the two Complaice Audit Report published by the office if the Auditor-General for the federation as well as the Independent Findings Report being presented today by the Coalition to ensure that those responsible for abusing extant law that set up NDDC to mismanaged public funds allocated to the Commission are made to account for all the monies

The Country Director, Accountability Lab, Odeh Friday reiterated that Nigeria is in a complicated financial corner.

According to him there is need for the federal government of Nigeria to re- consider a new audit bill which is very key to good Public governance and strangthening accountability mechanisms in government MDDs. Such that, this can drastically reduce the the mismanagment  of Nigeria's lean resources and improve the trust level between citizens and the government in open governance and transparency

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Gov. Alia Celebrates Predecessor at 63

Image
From Aviashima Toom, Abuja Benue State Governor, Rev. Fr. Hyacinth Alia, congratulated his predecessor and the immediate past governor of the State, Chief Samuel Ortom, on the Occasion of his 63rd birthday.  This was contain in a statement signed on Tuesday by Chief Press Secretary, CPS to Benue State Governor, Sir Tersoo Kula in makurdi. Governor Alia says, celebrating 63 years in good health is a privilege, calling on Chief Ortom to savour the moment, and also take deep retrospection as an elder statesman. The Governor prayed to God to grant the former Governor more years ahead.. 
Read more

Residents of FCT Pass Vote of Confidence on Wike

Image
From Aviashima Toom, Abuja Coalition of FCT Indigenous Groups and FCT Resident Associations has passed a vote of confidence on the  FCT Minister, Bar. Nyesom Wike. The group also  urged him to continue his good works in the nation’s capital, saying the original inhabitants and the entire people of FCT were solidly behind him. The convener of the group, Adeyeye Olugbenga, made the call during a peaceful rally at the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) Abuja, on Thursday.  The group called on President Bola Tinubu to ignore calls to remove Wike as the FCT Minister. The group said ” Some people have alleged that the FCT under Barr Wike has become the epicentre of controversy. They further questioned his land reforms and claimed that he was involved in land grabbing and dispossessing people of their properties. Nothing can be further from the truth, than this well-rehearsed and repeated falsehood. Keen followers of the dynamic leadership of His Excellency Nyesom Wike,
Read more

Hybrid Solar Panel Factory Soon To Take Off in Makurdi

Image
From Aviashima Toom The Benue State Government has entered into partnership with the Shanghai Haitian Hospital, to facilitate academic and clinical interchange between Benue State University Teaching Hospital, Makurdi, in the areas of joint studies, training activities, and other educational exchanges of mutual interest. The government has also entered into partnership with Sinoki System Limited, for the establishment of a Hybrid Solar Panel Factory in Benue State. Signing the two Memorandums of understandings (MOUs) at the Old Banquet Hall of the Benue State Government House, Makurdi on Monday, Governor Hyacinth Alia said he was excited and optimistic that the partnerships will open many more doors of investments in the State, adding that his administration is willing to welcome more investors into the state. In a statement issued today by the Chief Press Secretary CPS, to Benue State Governor, Sir Tersoo Kula, Alia described the partnership with the Shanghai Haitian Hospi
Read more