The Federal Government of Nigeria has began the process of terminating unexecuted contracts previously awarded for projects in the Niger Delta Region.
Minister for Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Umana O. Umana made this known recently during a live interview on Radio Nigeria, saying, that the decision by the government was a follow-up action on the report of a forensic audit earlier conducted by the ministry.
According to Umana, the ongoing process of termination was necessary because the unexecuted contracts were adding up to the list of projects not executed by the commission.
If you enjoy this story, please do not forget to check out our other news stories:
The minister also hinted that after receiving and deliberating on the report, all post forensic audit decisions taken by the government are to ensure sanity returns to the way business is conducted by the commission.
“I believe that the institution of the forensic audit by the administration of President Buhari was to look at the issues of abandoned projects; the lack of following the procurement rules in the award of contracts which led to all of the problems. Based on the findings of the forensic audit, I can say that the federal government is taking a decisive action and it is already paying dividends. Some of the recommendations have been implemented in phases. for example, over four thousand and something projects were identified as projects that had been awarded, but work has not commenced.
“I want to assure that we will faithfully implement the decisions of government on the forensic audit report. if we had followed the procurement law and due process, I don’t think we would have this litany of abandoned projects. When contracts are awarded without regards for availability of funds for budget provisions, we end up with this kind of situations. Moving forward, we will make sure that sanity is returned
“I also would like to say that on multiple accounts, this is no longer applicable. you know that of the first major decisions of the Muhammadu Buhari administration was the policy of Treasury Single Account (TSA) and all MDAs were directed to close all of their accounts and then open the TSA with the Central Bank Of Nigeria. NDDC complied the same way all other MDAs complied. So, that is no longer applicable. This is still part of the restoration process and the need to ensure that sanity, transparency and accountability and the real improvement in the governance process that we are going to find in the NDDC, he stressed.
Speaking on the number of projects to be possibly completed before the end of the present administration, the minister maintained that the focus is on the impacts and relevance of the projects, and not on how to get all projects completed before May 29, 2023.
His words: “with what the current administration has done since may 2015, and looking at the records of the ministry, we have projects that spread over several sectors: roads and bridges, education, agriculture, youth and women empowerment, housing, environment and so on. All of these areas are areas which impact seriously on the developmental agenda of the region.
“From our records, we have over 872 projects. During this period – May 2015 till date, these projects are the projects for which appropriation was made in the various budgets. In terms of performance, up to 60 percent of these projects have been completed. They cover roads, bridges, skills acquisition centres, housing estates. Under agriculture, we have cassava processing mills, oil palm processing mills set up in various states. As I said, we will look at the relevance and impacts of the projects. I don’t believe that just saying that all of the projects will be completed is necessary, because government would always continue even when the actors are changed. Even the 2023 budget that is being put together now, I’m sure will be transmitted soon by Mr. President and laid before the national assembly for approval. You know the tenure of this administration will end on May, 29. so, the incoming administration will have to continue with the programmes and projects.
“This administration has done very well. that is why one of my key deliverables as the minister is that we are going to publish a compendium of completed projects; not only for the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, but also for the Niger Delta Development Commission. People can be very harsh in their judgements, probably based on lack of information.
“So, to ensure that we are solid in the area of transparency and accountability, we will have the publication for public scrutiny, and this will be made available to all the stakeholders in the region. This is something that should be coming up by next month. As i said, it will stretch beyond the ministry to cover the NDDC, based on the report of the forensic audit which identified thirteen thousand six hundred and seventy-two projects as projects that have been embarked upon. Out of this number, about 50 percent of those projects, over six thousand and something, by that report of forensic audit, were said to have been completed. I have directed that, following up on that report, a compendium of completed projects in the nine states should be published sector-by-sector with locations, dates of award of contracts and costs to enhance accountability and transparency.”
Reiterating the commitment of the ministry to partners with governments of states and stakeholders in the region, Umana said there will be no going back on the decision to collaborate with the state governments to boost mass satisfaction in project delivery.
“There is need to strengthen collaboration and partnership with other stakeholders with state governments in the region. Just recently when we had the meeting of the National Council On Niger Delta in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, I did say that we would ensure that we collaborate a lot more with the state governments in the region. It is wrong for the NDDC to go and start projects in any state without discussing with the government of the state.
“If you go and start something, you may be duplicating projects and wasting efforts and resources and may not even fit into the development plan of the states. So, I believe we did not do too well in the area of partnership and collaboration. That is one area we are working on, and moving forward, I believe that we will have some improvement in this area, and the issue of duplication will no longer arise, with the new framework which focuses on collaboration and partnership.
“So, moving forward, we will bring everybody to the table and share information so that whatever the ministry is doing will be shared with all of other critical stakeholders and of course, the new template of consultation and involvement of the state governments: consultation before projects are embarked upon, we will even involve the state governments in the monitoring during the process of execution. With this new template in place, we will have better outcomes, he added.
The Akwa Ibom born seasoned administrator further expressed belief that efforts on the part of the federal government in putting structures to address developmental issues in the Niger Delta region have been impacting, adding that though he also believes it could have been better, it would be fair to write off such efforts which he has come to discover.
Kindly contact us @ Naijalivetv@gmail.com
Call or Whatsapp: 07035262029, 07016666694, 08129340000
