The Minister of State for Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Tayo Alasoadura has said the sum of N3 million was expended on “unverifiable projects” under the dissolved leadership of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
This was just as he stated that about 12,000 NDDC projects have been abandoned, adding that “these are projects that are not really worth doing at all’.
Alasoadura also expressed dissatisfaction with the quality and state of the housing estate projects executed by the ministry in the state.
The minister who stated this during a courtesy visit to Governor Godwin Obaseki at Government House, in Benin City, Edo state said that he was in Edo to evaluate such projects.
He expressed joy with the dissolution of the recently screened NDDC board by President Muhammadu Buhari because according to him, the move prevented perpetuation of corruption in the interventionist agency.
“When we were saying we want to find out what had happened in the past, people just rushed to form a new board and as far as we are concerned, we saw that as ensuring it was business as usual for the new people,” the minister said.
Alasoadura further said: “the ministry will not sit and watch corruption thrive, which is why it worked meticulously to put the right people in the right places.”
On his part, Governor Obaseki said, “We support the re-organisation that is taking place in the NDDC. I don’t believe that there is any other state that has been deprived like Edo in terms of resources that were allocated to it through the NDDC.”
