A Warri-based civil society group; the Niger Delta Good Governance Watch (NDGGW), has raised the alarm over an alleged plot, by a syndicate led by an unnamed senator, to scuttle the recently approved Escravos Bar-Warri Port dredging contract.
The group, in a statement made available to journalists in Warri on Wednesday and signed by President and Secretary-General, Mr. Pawei Ikpidi and Godwin Okotie, respectively, alleged that the syndicate had plotted to abort the successful takeoff of the contract through an orchestrated House of Representatives’ probe.
According to the statement, the senator, who allegedly was one of the figures behind the failed Calabar Port dredging contract, had instigated a motion to be moved on the floor of the House of Representatives on May 3, 2018 to probe alleged infractions in the N13 billion project.
The group, however, raised alarm over what it described as procedural fraud as the probing House of Representatives committees failed to invite supposed primary stakeholders in the project for public hearings, but rather went for some nongovernmental organisations, which are said to be both unknown and having no relationship with the area where the project is situated.
“Curiously the public hearing started without the committees inviting
stakeholders from the Niger Delta and especially Delta State and the
immediate Warri communities who would be the beneficiaries of the
project to participate in the public hearing process. Rather some
unknown non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were the ones invited and
mobilized by the sponsors of the probe to make presentation on behalf of
the public and interested parties wherein they called for the
cancellation of the dredging project.
“The very reliable information available to the Niger Delta Good
Governance Watch is that a South East Senator and the brains behind the
failed $56 million (fifty six million dollars) contract for dredging of
Calabar channels who collected money without doing any dredging are
behind the House of Representatives probe because of the failure of
their preferred company to be awarded with the contract.“It would interest the Nigerian public to know that the same Senator is also the promoter of the company that was awarded the failed multi billion naira Koko Shoreline Protection contract by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). The Koko Shoreline Protection project in Delta State was abandoned by the contractor without any job done after collecting money running into billions of naira.
“We wish to warn that the people of Delta State and Niger Delta region would resist any attempt to frustrate the long awaited Escravos bar to Warri port dredging contract which has the capacity to revitalize the economy of Warri, Delta State and the Niger Delta region. As stakeholders, we have taken ownership of the Escravos bar to Warri dredging project and call on the management of the Nigerian Port Authority (NPA) and the Ministry of Transportation to ensure that this project is timeously executed without any delay.
“We also call on the Chairmen and members of the House of Representative Committees on Ports, Harbours and Waterways and Public Procurement not to allow themselves to be used by selfish and unpatriotic individuals to frustrate this project for parochial reasons.
“The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Dogara is hereby called upon to be on the side of the Nigerian people who earnestly desire the functionality of the maritime industry to create jobs and economic activities rather than a few who feed fat on collecting billions of naira for contracts without executing them. The brains behind the House of Representatives probe especially the South East Senator is warned to withdraw his nefarious activities or we may be forced to give details of his failed contracts and invite the intervention of the EFCC”, it warned.
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