By Emmanuel Nduka
The Contractors Association of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has maintained that its body was set up to fight for entitlements of its members.
The group in a statement issued on Monday, said it was responding to a “propaganda” piece titled ‘NDDC Contractors Debt Protest Sponsored to deceive Buhari, IOCs to release funds for NDDC’, issued by one Ambassador Yerimene Salaco, the “professed National Coordinator of a faceless propaganda machinery christened Izanzan Camp”.
President of the Contractors Association, Sylvester Iyade Tonye, stressed that the body is duly registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission with several objectives, “one of which is the protection of the interest of its teaming members who are private companies that came together to fight the issue of non-payment of contractors”.
On allegations that the group demanded monies from International Oil Companies (IOCs), he said “at no point did the Association demand for payments of debt from the International Oil Companies neither did we demand for payments from other sources. Our demand is directly to the Commission to pay for contracts executed by our teaming members”.
What The Contractors Are Saying
“On 12th December, 2021, one Ambassador Yerimene Salaco the professed National Coordinator of a faceless propaganda machinery christened Izanzan Camp, made very futile attempts to undermine the timely and constitutionally backed protest led by the executives and members of the Contractors Association of the NDDC demanding from the Commission, the immediate payment of all contracts duly executed and completion certificates issued without payment for donkey years on Dailywatch.
“Although we would not have responded to the baseless and unintelligent statements made by the charlatan and his cohorts as they clearly evidenced a deplorable display of ignorance and malice, we have decided to set the records straight to avoid a situation where peddlers of falsehood would be taken seriously by members of the unsuspecting public.
“The NDDC currently owes contractors over Two (2) trillion Naira for jobs completed several years ago without payment.
“Individual companies have written severally and made entreaties to the Commission for payments without success; thereby necessitating the formation of the Contractors Association of the NDDC to fight collectively for contractors’ entitlements”.
It added that “the issue of non-payment of contractors has become a recalling decimal and clearly existed before the emergence of Senator Godswill Akpabio as the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs. The said Minister is not a member of the Contractors Association of the NDDC and nobody in the Association enjoys his patronage”.
While reiterating that it has the constitutional right like any other group to organise peaceful protests to drive home its demands without any form of fear or intimidation or external influence, the contractors appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to ignore the antics of the “faceless group which has been one of the machineries of politicians who do not desire to see him succeed in his quest to genuinely develop the Niger Delta region”.
Tonye added that the group will proceed to mobilize mass protests until their demands are met.
