By Chancel Sunday
A Niger Delta youth group, Ijaw Youth Vanguard (IYV) has tasked the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to do the right thing by paying up the contractor of the completed Ogbia-Nembe road project before its planned commissioning.
In a statement issued signed by the group’s president and secretary, Comrade Ayakeme Ogbolu and Comrade Mark Ebikeme, respectively, It expressed displeasure over NDDC’s habit of delayed payment to finished jobs in the region.
“First and foremost, we commend the NDDC and the federal government for the award and execution of the N24 billion Ogbia-Nembe road project in Bayelsa state.
“The construction and completion of this road has brought to an end the long, tortuous and costly movement of people and goods through rivers and creeks which the people have suffered for centuries.
“However, the sad thing here is that NDDC has not completed payment to the contracting firm since completion of the job in 2018, but now making moves to bring President Muhammadu Buhari to commission it.
“From our findings, the contracting firm is owed more than N1.6 billion naira and commissioning a project without fully paid for is tantamount to fraud.
“There are so many projects in the region abandoned by contractors due to deliberate failure on the part of NDDC to pay.
“We wish to use this medium to call on President Buhari to jettison the proposed commissioning of the project until the contractor is fully paid the contract sum”, the group said.
