Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC has hinted that the Commission would consider the payment of an upfront mobilization fee to contractors to enable them to fast-track their job.
Rivers State Representative on NDDC Board, Hon. Tony Okocha, who stated this during an interactive session with stakeholders and contractors in Port Harcourt, acknowledged the concerns of the contractors over delays in the payment for completed jobs.
Okocha further disclosed that he would soon commence inspection visits to project sites with the Commission’s engineers for an on-the-spot assessment.
He urged contractors executing NDDC projects to return to their various sites and ensure that they meet the required standards for quality jobs before they can qualify for payment, insisting that contractors who failed to meet the required specifications of each project would not be paid.
“I am not an armchair administrator that will sit in the office to listen to reports. I am coming to your sites with my team of competent engineers to assess the work you are doing and if I find the work to be sub-standard, you will have yourself to blame as the current NDDC Board will not compromise on standards.”
The Rivers Representative stressed that the Commission would execute projects and programmes in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led administration, which he claimed meant well for the people of the Niger Delta region.
Okocha stated that the NDDC’s Project Monitoring and Supervision Directorate would deploy automated machines for proper documentation and filing to take advantage of its numerous benefits.
He added that as the Rivers State Representative on the NDDC board, his commitment to serve the people was unwavering, noting that there would be no preferential treatment in terms of payment.
“We will create a table of contractors that actually worked and are deserving of payment for their efforts.”
Earlier, one of the contractors, Chief Tony Maduabuchi, appealed to the Federal Government to urgently remove the NDDC, being an interventionist body, from the Treasury Single Account, TSA, which he claimed was preventing contractors from getting proper funding from the Commission.
