National Assembly Complex
By Our Reporter
The Niger Delta Development Commission has again listed 23 companies that allegedly received contracts awarded by the commission.
The NDDC made available a list containing the names of companies allegedly provided by the National Assembly to the NDDC to award contracts before the lawmakers could harmonise the 2019 budget of the commission.
The contracts were awarded and paid between March 17 and 26, 2020.
The 23 companies got a total of N9trn contracts from the NDDC with the highest going to one Grandfox Global Services Ltd.
Grandfox Global Services Ltd was awarded the contract titled ‘Emergency at Ope Road Okigwe LGA’ and was paid 580,438,578, on March 17, 2020.
Also awarded contracts were Crism Constr. Building Ltd; Aritel Oil and Gas; and PDH Global Logistics Ltd, who got contracts of N561,592,377; N550,100,132; and N543,247,587 respectively.
The list released by NDDC
Listed among the companies was also Webster Global Ventures Ltd, who allegedly got four contracts from the commission.
The contracts include instruction of emergency repairs of failed and unmotorable sections of Benin Township Road Lot 2 Oredo LGA for N357m; remedial works of failed and unmotorable sections of Akuku Illah Road Oshimili North LGA for N463m; remedial works of failed and unmotorable sections of New Ogorode Road Lot2 Sapele LGA for N466m and instruction for emergency repairs of failed and unmotorable sections of Abigborodo Road Lots 2 Warri North LGA for N466m.
In a swift reaction, Webster Global Ventures Limited denied receiving contracts as revealed by the Interim Management Committee of the NDDC, the company described its inclusion on the list of companies allegedly coerced to be paid by the National Assembly as a deliberate effort to destroy the company’s reputation.
It described the statement credited to the Acting Managing Director of the NDDC, Prof Kemebradikumo Daniel Pondei, as false, inaccurate and misleading, adding that the National Assembly never influenced any payment made to it by the NDDC.
Director of Operations of the company, Mr Opeolu Adarae, in a statement on Saturday said, “We are a company of international repute and no one should dent our image.
“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.”
Also debunking the claims by the NDDC, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, Chairman of the House Committee on NDDC, said the commission had been engaging in extra-budgetary expenses, adding that the agency had not been transparent with its budgetary spending.
He said, “All these things are just falsehood. The commission said they are old jobs and said the National Assembly asked them to pay for the old jobs.
“We did not get the job and we are only doing our jobs.
“As the legislature, we are supposed to be the one checking the excesses of the executive but they are trying to blackmail us.
“With what they are trying to do now, they are trying to blackmail us so they will have a free hand to do what they want to do.”
