The controversy that trailed last week’s commissioning of road projects by the NDDC in parts of Calabar is assuming a fresh dimension, after the representative of Cross River State on the board of the commission, Orok Otu Duke, claimed that the Nyaghasang road was not executed by the NDDC.
Duke, while speaking in Calabar at the heat of the controversy last week, had said that “if anyone is in a position to clarify this issue, it is me. I represent the NDDC in this state, and I am fully aware of all NDDC projects as captured in our budget.
“I want to categorically reiterate that the Nyanghasang Road project is not an NDDC initiative. From inception to this point, the entire effort has been undertaken by the state government,” he had added, while also criticising attempts by some federal lawmakers to take undue credit for state-led projects, describing it as a tactic to siphon public funds and mislead constituents.
“Some individuals from the Senate came in, hurriedly asphalted a section of the road, and tried to claim ownership to divert funds. There is no Bill of Engineering Measurement and Evaluation (BEME), voucher, or award letter to substantiate their claim.
“It is unfortunate that Cross River is being used as a smokescreen for financial misappropriation,” Duke said.
Apart from Duke’s denial of NDDC’s involvement in the road project, he had also poured invectives on the senator representing Cross River South in the National Assembly, Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong, the man who attracted the Nyaghasang road.
There have, however, been speculations that Duke may have been eyeing Ekpenyong’s seat ahead of the 2027 election, an allegation that Duke dismissed last week.
Chairman of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Governing Board, Chiedu Ebie, clearly enraged by Duke’s stance on the matter, has warned against politicization of projects executed by the NDDC.
In making reference to Duke’s last week claims, Ebie said in Yenagoa during activities to mark the 25th anniversary of the NDDC, that it was unfortunate that people were giving wrong narratives about the road projects executed in Calabar.
He said: “Last week, we were in Calabar and we were there to commission the state office and also some roads in Calabar South and Calabar Municipality. But it is very unfortunate that the good works, the amount of efforts and energy by the commission and the staff who monitored and certified those projects(Idang and Nyaghasang roads), some people took it upon themselves to cast us in bad light.
“They spin the wrong narratives out there. The media was awash with the projects we went to commission in Calabar when they said that due process was not followed in the award of the road project.
“The law says that the chairman and the MD should sign and award every contract and we only do that when due process has been followed-the letter of award issued, the bill of engineering measures also issued as well.
“So, how can a mischievous individual (in the mold of Duke) sit down and say that there was no award letter, there was no BEME. So, how did the contractor go to the site?”
Apparently expressing dissatisfaction with the Cross River representative on the NDDC board, the NDDC chairman said , “politics is politics,” and nobody should drag the NDDC into the game of politics because “this is a new NDDC and we are out to make a difference.”
