…Accuse Him Of Mismanagement, High-handedness
A group who says they are Indigenous Contractors to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has called for the immediate sack of the Managing Director of the commission, Mr. Nsima Ekere.
Making the call while addressing journalists at the NDDC headquarters at Aba Road recently during a protest, the President of Indigenous Contractors, Amb. Prince Victor Faka accused the NDDC boss of mismanaging funds meant for payment of contracts executed, stressing also that he had failed the region by not executing meaningful projects beneficial to the people.
According to the contractors, Nsima Ekere allegedly diverted funds provided for the payment to the indigenous contractors to fund his political aspiration under the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Akwa Ibom State.
Amb. Faka alleged that the necessary funds for payment of contracts had been approved and sent to the commission, insinuating that the NDDC boss has diverted it to his own selfish use and by so doing was stalling the progress of Niger Delta.
The contractors told journalists that they had made several efforts, including writing letters to the National Assembly in a bid to get their money paid, but nothing had come out of it.
The indigenous contractors president disclosed that their members had decided to use protests, saying if the protests fail, they would diverse other means to get their money.
Lamenting the situation, Alexander Trimagha Pepple, a member of the group said, corruption had infested NDDC under Ekere, stressing that the man’s tenure had expired since October, 2018 but that he is sitting there to perpetrate corruption.
He stated that the purpose of establishing the commission had been defeated by the highhandedness of the MD boss, adding that his failure to pay has affected the contractors who he said used their personal funds to execute the contracts. He urged President Buhari to intervene in the matter before it is too late, stressing that they had endured enough since more than three years they were being owed.
Adding his voice to what they called an ugly development. Hon Daddy Kelvin Gigi, a stakeholder from Niger Delta Region said Mr. Ekere’s leadership style had messed up the ideologies of President Buhari, whom he said had good development plan for the region. He said bad eggs were messing up the good intention of the President.
The indigenous contractors while protesting at the commission’s headquarters at Aba Road had carried placards denouncing Ekere’s alleged highhandedness.
The NDDC boss was contacted several times on phone to hear his own side of the story, but each time the phone rang, nobody picked it.
