Silent War in NDDC as Lauretta Onochie disowns MD over illegal $15 billion railway contract

Silent War in NDDC as Lauretta Onochie disowns MD over illegal $15 billion railway contract

 

 

The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has descended into open conflict after the board disowned a recent $15 billion memorandum of understanding for the construction of a coastal railway line that had been reached between the commission’s management and a US-based organisation.

 

In a brief statement provided to Our Correspondent, NDDC Chairman Lauretta Onochie criticised the MOU as dubious, illegal, and meaningless, asserting that management could not have signed such an agreement without the board’s consent.

 

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She noted that a similar contract had been approved by the Federal Executive Council, led by Muhammadu Buhari, in 2021 and expressed outrage at the management’s audacity in moving forward with the same mindset of feasting on the region’s collective patrimony for its personal interests.

 

According to information obtained by News Week Nigeria, the board under Onochie’s leadership made its claim after weeks of alleged fighting between the board and management of the NDDC, which was said to have taken the form of a silent conflict.

 

The crisis reached its height on Tuesday when the managing director, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, organised a PPP summit at the Eko Hotel in Lagos without the majority of the board members present, including Gbenga Edoema, chairman of the NDDC PPP committee.

 

The announcement that the NDDC and a US company had signed a $15 billion MOU for the development of the massive rail project was the PPP summit’s high point.

 

 

Dismissing the PPP and the actions of the management, Onochie in a statement reads in parts; “My attention and the entire Board have been drawn to a publication in some National dailies of the purported signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between a US firm, “Atlanta Global Resources Inc.” and the NDDC, whose Board I chair, for the “construction of a mega rail project across the Niger Delta, from Lagos to Calabar.” This was done without my knowledge and without the authorisation nor consent of the Board”.

 

“Everything about this shady “MOU” is illegal due to the following reasons: (a) By the act establishing the NDDC(Act No 6, of 2000), it is the Chairman of the board that is solely vested with the power to sign MOUs with any organisatio

 

“Part II of the NDDC Act, Section 8, sub sections (a) and (e), among other provisions, specifically state inter Alia; te Board shall have power to:-

(a)manage and supervise affairs of the Commission. (e)enter into such contracts as may be necessary or expedient for the discharge of its functions and ensure the efficient performance of the functions of the Commission.

And the Supplementary provision of the Act as relating to the Board (Section 4, sub-section 1) clearly retains the Seal of the Commission in the Office of the Chairman”.

 

“The “US company”, Atlanta Global Resources Inc., has no expertise nor experience in any form of construction, let alone, Railway construction. This company is a Management and Export Consulting Firm is without known notable Directors. Thus, the signing of an MOU to the tune of $15 billion(USD) with such an organisation is not only suspect but dubious”.

 

“The Federal Executive Council (FEC), having recognised the importance of infrastructure in the Niger Delta region had awarded the Contract for the same project in 2021 at the sum of $11.7 billion for the construction of a Mega railway from Lagos to Sagamu, Sagamu to Ijebu-Ode, Ijebu-Ode to Ore, Ore to Benin City, Benin-City to Sapele, Sapele to Warri, Warri to Yenogoa, Yenegoa to Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt to Aba, Aba to Uyo, Uyo to Calabar, Calabar to Akamkpa and to Ikom, Obudu Ranch with branch lines from Benin-City to Agbor, Ogwashi-Uku, Asaba, Onitsha and Onitsha Bridge and then Port Harcourt to Onne Deep Sea Port”.

 

She said; “It is shocking that after the FEC, the highest ruling body in the country, had done this, that anyone would be signing an MOU on behalf of the NDDC and the Federal Government of Nigeria for the same project in 2023 without due process nor approval by the FEC in the twilight of the Muhammadu Buhari administration.”

 

“The same clumsy, shady and hazy transactions of the past in NDDC, that had bedevilled and stultified identifiable progress in the past, was rested with the “Forensic Audit” and the Inauguration of a New Board, with the Sanitisation of the Commission as its mantra. However, old habits die hard. And some individuals (within and without the Commission) still retain the retrogressive mindset that has held the Commission down for the past 22 years. We cannot remain in the old dubious path”.

 

“The Present Board is set on Transparency, Equity, Justice and Equality, and ready to midwife and embrace other policies and programmes that would uplift and improve the lives of the good people of Niger Delta. With dilligence, perseverance, persistence and commitment, this Vision would come to pass”.

 

“We, therefore, call on all our partners and stakeholders in this quest – CBN (TSA), The Ministry of Niger Delta, The National Assembly, Our nine States’ Governors (Advisory Board), Our Traditional rulers, Youth Population, etc., to take note because NDDC has not and could not have signed an MOU, worth $15 billion (USD) without the Board and FEC’s approval”.

 

“The so-called MOU signed with Atlanta Global Resources Inc. “AGRI”, is hereby disowned by the Board and declared null and void. The statement declared.