A group, People’s Progressive Platform, has described as laughable, trite and fabricated tissue of lies the reports that ranking member of the House of Representatives, Honourable Nicholas Mutu, as Chairman House Committee on Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) used fronts to collect mobilisation fees for unexecuted projects.
A statement signed by the leaders of the group, Hon Bazunu Kio, and Dr Innocent Fyncountry, said as an organization concerned with the development of the Niger Delta region it would have ordinarily ignored the inconsequential reports orchestrated by some faceless people masquerading as civil society members but decided to react to set the record straight for posterity
Noting that the sponsors of the report exposed their ignorance in their desperation to embark on a failed campaign of calumny against him, the group maintained that the business of awarding contracts in the Niger-Delta Development Commission was exclusively that of the management of the agency as enshrined in the Act setting it up.
It noted that Hon Mutu, who has had five straight tenures as a House member noted that it was erroneous, groundless, cheap blackmail to allude that a Chairman of a parliamentary committee took over contract awarding duty of an agency like the NDDC.
“For record purpose, his basic function as Chairman House Committee on NDDC is to oversight the agency by evaluating from time to time work done by NDDC towards ensuring that projects embarked upon are in line with budgetary provisions and that the extent of execution is consistent with mode of releases”, he stressed.
The group noted that apart from the House Committee on NDDC several other public institutions oversight NDDC which includes; Presidential Monitoring Committee; Advisory and Monitoring Committee; and Account-General of the Federation Office.
Others are Senate and House Committees on Public Accounts and Due Process Committees of the two chambers.
Besides, contracts valued at N1b and above, the group held, usually pass through the Due Process, and Federal Executive Council before approval without the House Committee on NDDC being involved.
The insinuation that he used fronts to collect contracts mobilization fees from NDDC is not only ridiculous but incredibly wicked because it is in the public domain that the House Committee on NDDC under his leadership pursued through oversight the stoppage of payment of mobilization fees to contractors since the past four years.
His legacies, according to the group, is remarkable and untainted as House Committee Chairman on NDDC and profoundly manifest and verifiable and cannot be wished away by fictitious allusions of a faceless group whose dubious agenda is still unclear.
“Let us remind the faceless group that the leadership of the House is indeed satisfied with his excellent performance in NDDC Committee and accordingly no amount of character assassination and mischief will obliterate this position”, he said.
PPP added that the fundamental reasons why his constituents have voted him in five unbroken times included his integrity and the competent manner he has been representing them by addressing satisfactorily their basic needs, aspirations and challenges.
He urged the Niger-Delta people to continue to support NDDC to enable the agency remain focused on its mandate of developing the region.
