Wike Accuses NDDC Of Not Providing Counterpart Fund For Rivers Road Project

The Governor of Rivers State has accused the Niger Delta Development Commission of refusing to provide its 50 per cent counterpart fund for the construction of the Eastern Bypass Road.

Wike said he will make the operation of the NDDC ‘uncomfortable’ in the state where it has its headquarters.

The NDDC N16bn Headquarters Complex is situated along Eastern By-Pass, Marine base, Port Harcourt.

The governor who has been a critic of the Muhammadu Buhari administration said this at the Commission’s Eastern Bypass Road on Saturday.

Wike said during his speech before the interim administrator of the NDDC, Effiong Akwa, that the state government had agreed with the commission to jointly share the cost of the project.

But the governor claimed that the NDDC failed to fulfil its part of the agreement as they could not provide a ‘dime’.

The construction of the project was undertaken by Julius Beger and has been fully paid for, according to the Rivers governor.

He said, “This was a project that was supposed to be between us and the NDDC. I was with the Minister of Nigeria Delta and the sole administrator of the NDDC . I’m happy he is here. We agreed to share the funding of this project 50-50 per cent, as I speak to you, he ran away.

“He never brought a dime. But look at their headquarters here. They are enjoying the road now. It is unfortunate and I have always said it.

“I have never seen a corporate body that will say they will enter into partnership with a government and then they will not fulfil their own promise. I have never seen such a thing in my life.

“It is only in this part of the world. They are happy there is a road, they are happy there is drainage and now it is going to give beauty to their edifice.

“But I will make it uncomfortable for them. Very Much, I will make it uncomfortable for them. That is why even when they make promises to a community they will abandon it.

“If you can play this trick on the government, you can imagine what will happen to other communities. It is such a shame.

“Nobody will allow these kinds of characters to be in charge of the government.”

The NDDC’s interim administrator, Akwa, during his speech admitted that the commision did not fulfil its part of the agreement.

He said that the commission would release the 50 per cent counterpart fund as soon as its 2022 budget is released.

Akwa said, “NDDC’s counterpart fund for the construction of this important road is already captured in the 2022 budget. As a responsible corporate citizen, we are committed to keeping our promise.

“We will always partner with the state governments of the region to deliver quality projects, as evident in what we are witnessing today, for the benefit of the people of this great region.”