By: Felix Ikpotor
As part of her desire to straighten things up, the Acting Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Dr Gbene Joi Nunieh has cancelled the monthly payment of N1 billion to a consultant that collects money from International Oil Companies, IOCs, on behalf of the commission.
Dr Nunieh stated this on Tuesday while speaking to journalists at the NDDC headquarters along Port Harcourt/ Aba Expressway in Port Harcourt.
The NDDC Boss insisted that the Commission did not need middlemen to collect statutory funds due to it, adding that organizations owing the commission should just make payment into NDDC accounts domicile with the CBN.
She said: “We have a consulting firm engaged as a collection agent. We have another company that also collects 3 per cent whenever money is paid by the International Oil Companies, IOCs….we don’t need a middle man to collect 3 per cent for gas. The money should just be paid into NDDC accounts.
“I have suspended the contract of a collection agent. We are no longer going to pay anyone N1 billion every month. That is wicked.
“That money can put mono pumps in rural communities in the Niger Delta. It can buy books and set up primary health centres.
“The three per cent for a consulting firm is over. That is why we are under pressure. But I laugh because those who live in glass houses should never throw stones.”
Nunieh promised to ensure that everything runs smoothly in the course of the forensic audit ordered by President Mohammadu Buhari, adding that the audit would be deep and detailed, stressing that “this explained the panic in certain quarters”.
