Oscarline Onwuemenyi
21 December 2016, Sweetcrude, Abuja – The Nigerian government on Tuesday said it would seek the intervention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC) over the N400 billion failed projects in the Niger-Delta.
The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Pastor Usani Uguru Usani, who disclosed this at a news conference in Abuja, said it was disheartening that since the creation of the Niger Delta Ministry over N400 billion has been disbursed for various projects with less than 13 percent implementation by the contractors.
He vowed that the government would not allow the contractors get away with the injustice they perpetrated against the people of the Niger Delta.
He said the situation was compounded by the facts that contractors handling such projects were Niger Delta indigenes who had developed the habits of collecting mobilisation funds from the ministry and afterwards eloped without doing anything at project sites.
Among the failed projects were roads, water, electricity, skill acquisition centres, housing estates, farms and health care centres.
The minister said the first step had been taken by ordering the contractors back to project sights to justify the funds collected, stating that contractors who failed to meet up with the pace of the ministry would have their dates with the anti-graft agencies.