Group Gives Contractors Ultimatum Over Abandoned NDDC Projects In Ondo

An advocacy group, ‘Great Patriotic for Better Initiative’ (GPBI), has given one month ultimatum to contractors handling the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Projects in the riverine areas of Ondo state.

The group also called on the National assembly to prevail on the affected contractors to return to sites within the next one month.

Addressing newsmen in Akure, the Ondo state capital, the Executive Director of GPBI, Biyi Poroye lamented that people of the Riverine area of Ondo state had been faced with challenges of lack of basic amenities for over a decade due to the inability of contractors to execute projects that had been awarded to them.

Poroye said “having looked at the brief history of the NDDC, the transformations, and the goodwill of the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration who has voted billions of naira into the NDDC, it is therefore outrageous an alarming that Ondo State as the 5th position among the nine Niger Delta State has no major or capital projects such as dualized road, standard health institutions, schools etc. that has been done by the NDDC since inception unlike other Niger Delta States.

“It is so sardonic that we are living on water, with no access to good road or portable water to drink, there’s no electricity our people have been in black out for over a decade, our people are suffering, they are dying on daily basis as a result of lack of good water and good health facilities. It is a terrible situation.

“As an advocacy group and a responsible citizen of the Niger Delta Area, we are coming out to raise the consciousness of our people, government and the Niger Delta stakeholders that;

“We are not pleased with the high level of abandoned projects in Ondo State and other Niger Delta States. Our people are suffering and efforts of the Federal Government to bring laughers to the people are being defeated continuously.

“Across the Niger Delta Region and especially in Ondo State, there are splits of abandoned projects, Contractors refusal to mobilise to the site after they had collected mobilisation, ghost projects yet paid, substandard projects.

“On this note, we are formally notifying and appealing to Hon. Bunmi Tunji-Ojo (BTO), the Chairman, House Committee on NDDC with his colleagues both at the Senate and House of Representatives to please use their good offices to invite all the absconded contractors who had been mobilized especially in Ondo State to relocate to the projects site within one month ultimatum in their own interest.

“Hon. Bunmi Tunji-Ojo, we believe in your leadership as a dynamic, trustworthy, progressive and energetic political leader in our dear State and beyond. Your action to have taken it as a priority to fight for the interest of your people and the masses. We hereby plead with you sir to take action by investigating this matter and encourage the Contractors to move to the projects site.

“If this can be achieved, it will complement the laudable projects of our Governors especially our performing Governor of Ondo State, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu led administration ably coordinated by the office of his energetic and idealistic Special Adviser on Works and Infrastructure, Engr. Aminu Raimi.

“We shall be presenting our yearnings to the Honourable Chairman, House Committee on NDDC and other Opinion Leaders in the Niger Delta Region as a group any moment from now with the aim of persuading affected contractors to go back to projects site.”