Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
Worried over the number of abandoned projects by the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs in Abia State, Governor Alex Otti, has urged the Ministry, as well as the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), to mobilise contractors back to site to complete them.
The Governor spoke when he received in audience, the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Engr. Abubakar Momoh, and his team, who called on him while in Abia to inspect road and other projects by the Ministry and the NDDC.
Governor Otti attributed the primary reason for abandoned projects initiated by the NDDC to outstanding debts owed contractors and urged the Minister to assist in resolving the payment issues.
“Abia State is a major beneficiary of abandoned NDDC projects, and there is one, just around here (in Isiala-Ngwa South) that goes all the way to the Expressway. The reason for abandonment was that they (the contractors) were being owed, since 2018.
“I am sure that the details can be provided for you to get them to come back to work.
“There are others around Umuahia, around Aba, and if we can get them to come back to work, I would really appreciate it, but the major issue is about payment.
“Sometimes in the past, it was like a herculean task to get paid when handling NDDC project, so if you can look into it, you can get a lot of the projects that were abandoned back to life,” Governor Otti said.
The Governor said both the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs and the NDDC were important to Abia State. He expressed his appreciation to the Minister for visiting Abia to see things for himself.
“I want to say that Niger Delta Ministry and of course the Niger Delta Development Commission, both of them are very important to us because these are two institutions that represent us at the same time even though we own one, that is the NDDC but the ministry we do not own.
“You also chose to inspect the road projects under you and under the NDDC, so we are quite pleased. These agencies are very important to us as interventionist in the normal course of the business of governance. The truth is that any road done by either the ministry or agency under you is a plus to the state and we will not go back to it,” the Governor said.
Earlier in his speech, the Minister said he and his team were in Abia to inspect projects by the Ministry of the Niger Delta Affairs and the NDDC.
He lauded Governor Otti for the huge infrastructural development and improved security situation witnessed in Abia within a short period of his assumption of office, and appealed to him to continue to make peace in the state and region a top priority for economic prosperity of the people.
He said the Ministry of Niger Delta is not in competition with the NDDC states but would collaborate with them to achieve meaningful development, adding that there should be a robust relationship between the two to achieve results.
“Your Excellency, you’re one person that everybody loves because when the issue of visiting your state was mentioned there was no dissenting voice. I was surprised that the Hon. Minister from this state (Abia) from the other divide (opposition party), was also in support just like the president himself said, yes. I think you’re generally loved by the people.
“From afar, we have also witnessed your developmental strides, I was reading recently and saw that less than a year that you came on board, 10 major road projects have been executed in the state,” the Minister noted.
Some members of the entourage include the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Niger Delta Affairs, Hon. Dimbiagwu Okechukwu; his Project Monitoring counterpart, Hon. Obi Aguocha; Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, Dr. Shuaib Belgore; and many others.
