Alleged COVID-19 contract: We'll not be distracted by fake news - NDDC
- The NDDC has raised an alarm over what it described as a deluge of fake news against the commission
- The intervention agency says those who have looted the NDDC dry in the past are scared of being probed
- The NDDC has commenced the process of a forensic audit to look into its books in the past
The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), has denied reports of the award of COVID-19 procurement contract to a private firm.
A media report had accused the commission of awarding the sum of N5,474,647,125.00 for the procurement of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for health workers and provision of community-based sensitization campaign against the spread of COVID-19 in the region.
The commission in a statement described the purported award letter signed by one Alex Ndudi Enebeli as fake.
Source: UGC
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Part of the statement read: “The letters for all contracts awarded by the commission are signed by the executive director, projects on the authority of the acting managing director who is the chief accounting officer of the commission. Neither of the officials is aware of the contract letter.
“It is inconceivable that a contract and of such magnitude could be awarded otherwise. The commission has launched an internal investigation into how such a letter came to be issued and on what authority.
“For the purpose of transparency, we wish to confirm that the commission has just secured presidential approval to intervene by assisting NCDC in the supply of kits and the building of isolation centres in the nine Niger Delta states.
“Also, the commission has disbursed N775million to assist the 9 Niger Delta states to fight the plague. We have also disbursed N270 million as palliatives to the youths, women and the physically challenged in the 27 senatorial districts of the region.”
The commission also denied claims that the present management has paid out huge sums for contracts to supply kits and drugs for the prevention of Lassa Fever.
“We wish to state that this present management has not awarded any Lassa fever contract.
“From the records, the commission awarded three contracts for intervention against the Lassa Fever scourge and all these took place in 2019, at least one year before the present management came into office,” the NDDC noted.
The NDDC noted that the attacks on the commission are due to the forensic audit expected to be carried out on past deeds in the intervention agency.
Recall that after the allegations were made against the NDDC, an influential group led by Comrade Ogakwu Dominic, Civil Society Groups for Good Governance (CSGGG), began a probe on the issue.
The CSGGG reached out to the NDDC to find out the true situation of things, based on its antecedents as an upright civil society organisation.
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