N722.3M Forensic Audit of NDDC: Group Hails President’s Audacious Release of fund

 ….commends N20B for the East-West Highway

Commendations have trailed the move by President Buhari in Council to directly fund the procurement of the Forensic Auditors for the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). 

This move according to a statement dispatched to newsmen by Citizens Quest’s National President, Christie O. Ndukwe “is sequel to the obvious deliberate attempt by the National Assembly to frustrate the Forensic Audit, simply by delaying the release of the 2020 budget of the Commission.”

Recall that Citizens Quest for Truth Initiative had noted, previously, that the scheme of delaying the annual budget of the NDDC had been an effective coercive measure that has derailed the vision of the founding fathers of NDDC in the past 20 years. Thus, the move by Mr. President to fund the NDDC, using his good office, shows the depth of his love for the Niger Delta region.

According to the Minister for Niger Delta Affairs, Sen. Godswill Akpabio, the sum of N722.3m approved by the Federal Executive Council on the 26th of August, 2020, was to effect the procurement of Field Auditors for the 8 other states of the Niger Delta, since the lead Auditor who has previously been procured, will cover the Headquarters, in Rivers State.

In a related development, President has made good his resolve to complete the 15 years old East-West highway project through the release of N20billion to the contractors handling the road project. 

Citizens Quest for Truth Initiative confirmed the receipt of the money by the two Contractors handling the road project and who are expected to move back to site to commence work, commended the president’s positive gesture.

Recall also that the President had granted the request of the Minister for Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio to return the road back to the Ministry after four years of abandonment by the Presidential Infrastructural Development Fund, PIDF, which though had received about N20billion from the Ministry of Finance, refused to pay the Contractors their historical debts. 

“We urge all well-meaning Niger Deltans to join hands with the President in the fight for the total liberation of the region from the anti-development forces, masquerading as stakeholders in the region” the group appealed.

 

 

Former Information Commissioner, Parchi Umoh burial holds today

A onetime Commissioner for Information, late Obong (Hon) Parchi Umoh, is set for burial tomorrow, Friday 28th August, 2020.

 

Aged 76, Obong (Hon) Parchi Umoh had contributed selflessly towards the growth of the state and humanity leaving his footprints indelible on the sands of time.

 

In a Condolence Message to the bereaved family of Late Obong (Hon) Parchi Umoh, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Comrade Ini Ememobong described the late Commissioner

as a thoroughbred professional who gave his best in his service to the State and humanity.

 

Having served meritoriously in different capacities as a Press Secretary, a member of the Board of EARCOM and as a Commissioner in his lifetime, Comrade Ini Ememobong acknowledged the cerebral prowess of the  late Parchi Umoh reiterating that, his name will remain indelible on the sands of time.

 

Emphasizing that his demise is a loss not just to the Ministry of Information & Strategy but to Akwa Ibom State as a whole and prayed the good Lord to grant the bereaved family the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.

 

The late Obong (Hon) Parchi Umoh has left behind a wife, Mrs. Affiong Parchi Umoh, children, friends and a host of numerous sympathizers to mourn his death.

 

The remains of the late Obong (Hon) Parchi Umoh will be laid to rest on Friday the 28th of August in his country home at Ikot Ambang, Ibiono Ibom Local Government Area after a funeral service by St. Peter's Catholic Church, Ikot

MONTHLY SANITATION : CANCELATION OF RESTRICTION OF MOVEMENT

Take Notice that due to the ongoing  exit examinations in our state, restriction of movement during the monthly general sanitation of Saturday, 29th August, 2020 is hereby cancelled.

This is to allow all those involved with the examinations to have free access to and from the different venues of the examination.

Other residents who have nothing to do with the examination and are not on essential duties, are strongly advised to actively participate in the monthly sanitation exercise that will focus on desilting of drains.

Inconveniences are deeply regretted.

Signed:

Comrade Ini Ememobong
Honourable Commissioner
Ministry of Information and Strategy
Akwa Ibom state

NDDC Scholarship Funds Over bloated - Citizens Quest

 

…IMC can’t pay under pressure because figure rose from $1.9m to $7m

 

The stories making the rounds, that the Interim Management Committee (IMC) of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) cannot pay their Foreign Scholarship students due to the absence of an Executive Director of Finance and Administration (EDFA), following the death of Mr. Etang Ibanga, the former EDFA has been discovered to not have emanated from the NDDC.

 

This discovery was made by the Citizens Quest for Truth Initiative, an accountability advocacy Civil Society Organization. The Citizens Quest, upon inquiry, both at the Headquarters of the NDDC and from the Central Bank of Nigeria found out, authoritatively, that unlike other contracts or projects at the NDDC, the foreign scholarship is paid from foreign currency denominated Domiciliary account, with the Executive Director Finance and Administration (EDFA) and the Executive Director Projects (EDP) as the authorized signatories.

 

Sources at the NDDC headquarters informed the Citizens Quest that the inability of the IMC to meet up with foreign scholarship obligation is not unconnected to the bloated figures they met, when they assumed office, earlier this year. According to the source, the IMC is worried that the number of scholarship students appears to increase with a new Management, giving the impression that the students don’t ever graduate from the scheme. A situation where the figures rose from $1.9m in 2018 to over $7m in 2019 is indeed worrisome and scary, indicating the padding of the records with ghost names.

 

A statement circulated to journalists on Monday, August 10, 2020 by Christie Obiaruko Ndukwe, President of Citizens Quest noted that, “the present Management under the Interim Management Committee, IMC, has not awarded any scholarships, as such, it is worrisome that the figures for the students are on the increase in spite of payments of about $1.9m and $3.4m paid by the two previous Boards.” 

 

It further reads: “The Citizens Quest for Truth Initiative further learnt that the NDDC, upon this discovery decided to suspend payment, until the identities of the ghost names are unmasked, through the various bank details attached to those names.

 

“The source at NDDC also hinted that sustained scholarship related protests is geared towards forcing the IMC to pay those ghost names, under pressure. This explains why the protest is getting dedicated media attention, being bankrolled by the scholarship payroll cabal, who are mostly from the National Assembly, past and present. 

 

“An increase from $1.9m to $7m is almost 400% and such bleeding of the commonwealth should not be allowed to continue, under any guise. This is why, despite the Presidential directive to pay, and with available funds, at the CBN, the IMC is yet constrained to endorse the continued rape of the region, through such approval for payments that end up in private pockets. The IMC had, sequel to the Presidential directive, gone to the CBN to make a payment of $5m, to clear all outstanding entitlement of the students, only to discover that the figure had risen to a whopping $7m.

 

“It is sad that the innocent students on scholarship have to endure hardship, occasioned by corruption in the system, but it is in the overall interest of the country that the scholarship scheme be sanitized, to weed out ghost names from the payroll and pave way for a hitch free payment of the verified students.

 

“The group therefore calls on those behind the spate of protests by just a handful of students to put a stop to this unbecoming attitude which is only aimed at railroading the good intentions of the present Government under President Muhammadu Buhari for the people of the Niger Delta.

 

“Those who have also constituted themselves into a group whose only stock in trade is to dish out falsehood backed by alarming figures aimed at pitting the Management of the Commission against the Nigerian people should retrace their steps by taking measures to verify whatever information at their disposal in order to avoid heating up the polity with the fake news syndrome.”

The Claim on Palliatives is Baseless - Odili

The Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has refuted claims by the erstwhile Chairman of the COVID-19 Palliatives Distribution Committee of the NDDC, High Chief Sobomabo Jackrich, that N6.25 billion funds approved for the procurement and distribution of COVID 19 palliatives to the poor people of the Niger Delta region was embezzled by the Interim Management Committee, IMC.

 

The Commission in a statement signed by NDDC Director, Corporate Affairs, Charles Obi Odili and circulated to local, regional and international news platforms, journalists, editors and media practitioners stated that the allegation, “is another false claim orchestrated by the same forces who have been waging a campaign of falsehood against the Commission and its management since President Muhammadu Buhari ordered a forensic audit of the operations of the Commission in the past 19 years. Although the Commission is minded to ignore this claim, we have to respond to re-assure our stakeholders that the IMC is honest in the management of the common trust in their care.”

 

The statement went further to state the facts thus:

 

*High Chief Jackrich approached the Commission to work with it in different ways. He was then chosen to oversee the Committee involved in the distribution of the COVID-19 Palliatives to communities in the Niger Delta. The Committee was put in place to ensure transparency in the process.

 

*Immediately the constitution of this committee was announced, some of the

 

State Governors reached out to the Commission that they would have nothing to do with it. Instead, they demanded that the palliatives meant for their states be given to them. In fact, one particular Governor declined to give the permit to move the items during the COVID lockdown unless the Commission directly deal with his government in the matter.

 

*The Education, Health and Social Services Directorate (EHSS), which oversees the COVID-19 response raised a memo advising management to accede to the demands of the governors. The memo dated May 22, 2020 argued that in view of the need to collaborate with state governments in the Niger Delta, the management should grant approval for state directors ‘to liaise with their respective state governments, on behalf of the Commission in drawing up a programme for the flag off and donation of the COVID-19 Palliative items in their respective states.

 

*On May 23 2020, management approved the request of the EHSS directorate. As a result of this approval and the change in policy, the task of the High Chief Jackrich Committee became redundant. This means the High Chief was no longer and could no longer be involved in the direct distribution of the Palliatives. This also means he could not have accurate information on the exercise.

 

*As at today, none of the nine state governments has denied receiving its own share of the food items for distribution under the COVID-19 Palliatives programme.

 

*The bulk of Mr. Jackrich’s petition dwelt on the refusal of the IMC to pay him a humongous amount of money for being Chairman of the Committee. This has led to this blackmail.

 

It needs be stated that apart from the palliatives distribution to vulnerable people, the COVID-19 Intervention of N6.25 billion approved by President Buhari had two other components: the procurement of medical kits and a public sensitisation campaign. The following medical kits were procured:

·         27 trilogy 202 ventilations,

·         65 ECG Machines,

·          54 RT PCR Machines,

·         18 APC smart digital UPS 5KVA,

·         36 infra-red thermometers,

·         18 double jar suction machines,

·         18 Fluid warmers,

·         18 multi parameter patient monitors,

·         94 standard ICU beds,

·         95 oxygen cylinders,

·         95 oxygen masks,

·         95 infusion pumps,

·         18 mobile X-ray machines,

·         18 mobile ultrasound machines,

·         18 mobile dialysis machines,

·         18 arterial blood gas machines,

·         Sanitizers and syringe pumps.

 

According to Odili, all the procured equipment have been distributed to the nine Niger Delta states and received by the state governments.

 

“Beyond COVID-19, this intervention has boosted the health care delivery capacity of the nine states. We are grateful to Mr. President for this intervention, which has saved lives in the region” Odili declared.

.

 

N-power: Delay stipend payment and beneficiaries’ deluge of questions

The Federal Government of Nigeria’s National Social Investment programme N-SIP with particular reference to N-power for the purpose of this piece which started four years ago, has been welcomed, accepted and adjudged by many as a life-changing initiative of the current administration, led by President Mohammadu Buhari, aimed at lifting many especially unemployed youths out of poverty as well as empowering many in various areas of entrepreneurship.

The above position is predicated on the assertion that many beneficiaries according to the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development Sadiya Farouq have become entrepreneurs and are doing well in their chosen businesses.

According to Sadiya Farouq, “over 109,823 beneficiaries of Batch A and B of N- Power programme across the country have established businesses in their communities statistics like this give me joy and once again, I want to say congratulations and like I said in my good will message I look forward to hearing amazing testimonials and meeting beneficiaries of this programme who will be doing great things in the future.’’  

As laudable as this programme is, it has been faced with unceasing complaints and issues of delayed stipend payment to the beneficiaries since it was put under the control of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development headed by Sadiya Farouq. And to extreme, many N-Power beneficiaries have also continued to questions the delay in the clearance of their backlog of stipends arrears, running to two to three months or more now.

One explanation given by the ministry could be seen from this excerpt written by Joseph Erunke and published by the Vanguard Newspaper on July 23, 2020, “The federal government, Thursday, said it did not pay 14,020 enrollees in the just ended batches of N-Power programme because the affected beneficiaries’ account details were found to be already existing in other ministries, departments, and agencies. The government which noted that the actions of the enrollees were against the established rule of the N-Power programme, regretted that the development affected some genuine and eligible beneficiaries.” 

From the abovementioned excerpt, the question agitating most minds of the beneficiaries is; why will dogs eat feces, and goats will then inherit tooth decay? Regretting that the development affected some genuine and eligible beneficiaries isn’t the best way to assuage the feelings, patience, circumstance of the beneficiaries,  considering the hard times of nowadays and coupled by the COVID-19 pandemic which has had its toll on most world economies.  

In my opinion, the right thing to do is to settle those beneficiaries who are genuine and eligible instead of allowing the 14,020 enrollees’ malfeasance affect genuine and eligible ones.

Again, early March this year, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, explained that the delay in paying N-Power beneficiaries was due to some verification process in the ministry.

Farouq disclosed that the Ministry was out to understand and have a full list of beneficiaries that were paid before she took over as Minister.

In a statement, she signed, Farouq said: “I know we had a complaint in October while we just got the NSIP into the ministry and we needed to understand the programme considering that it has been in existence before we came on board. We needed to understand before we start signing for a large amount of money and that was why we had the delay then. 

“Unfortunately, then we were operating with a director who was overseeing the office of the permanent secretary and then in January, we had a new permanent secretary who also had to understand the nature of the programme.” 

From available information as this excerpt will suffice, “However, after receiving a complaint of non-payment by some beneficiaries who did same through the ministry, the OAGF (GIFMIS) officially wrote informing the ministry that out of a total of 516,600 N-Power beneficiaries data sent to OAGF for migration in April 2020, only a total of 502,580 data have successfully migrated to the GIFMIS platform, while a total of 14,020 beneficiaries were returned because the beneficiaries’ account details already exist in other MDAs, which is against the established rule of the N-Power programme”, one can therefore say that the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development now know the total number of eligible and genuine batch A and B N-Power beneficiaries as well as total number of ineligible and fake batch A and B N-Power beneficiaries. Or are there other excuses, explanations or reasons to be given by the ministry again as to why the eligible and genuine batch A and B N-Power beneficiaries are yet to be paid their June and July 2020 stipends even as their batches come to an end  July 31, 2020.

The time to act is now, as the batch A and B beneficiaries continue to inundate N-Power social media handles with questions on when their 2020 June and July stipend will be paid.

Hon. Sadiya Farouq over to you.

Nwaorgu Faustinus is a socio-political commentator, blogger, freelance writer and mass communication graduate; he can be reached through ngorokpalaresearcher@gmail.com