NDDC KICKBACK SCANDAL & THE AGONY OF THE COMMISSION’S CONTRACTORS

By Kelvin Osas, African Vogue

Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), was established in 2000 with the mission to facilitate the rapid, and sustainable development of the Niger Delta region. This was a palliative measure for the structural deficient Niger region (Oil-producing states) of Nigeria at the time.

Presently in 2017, NDDC have not been able to fulfill 10% of the commission’s mandate compared to the huge resources the Federal government has pumped into the commission since inception. According to an independent source which undertook the appraisal of money NDDC has so far received compared to projects NDDC has successfully completed.

According to the same source; “NDDC is now an establishment for the enrichment of the management and their cronies, open malefic activities of the executives of the NDDC.  The commission is also ridden with huge debts and uncompleted projects due to blatant corrupt practices by every successive administration of the commission.”

 NDDC’S inability to honor its contractual agreement to its contractors further downgraded the commission’s ratings in the Nigerian banking sector. Making it almost impossible for banks to finance contracts awarded by the NDDC, the reason given by a bank manager was that “Banks exist to help members of the public profit and not to seize their collateral.”

The contractors of NDDC also have their endless tales of woe. According to a contractor who begged for anonymity; he alleged that agents of the management sell contract to willing contractors at 20% of the value of the contract sum and emphasized that it is an open trade in NDDC’s head office. Despite the huge resources expended for the acquisition of the contract, payments for every interim payment certificate (IPC) take  minimum of two years..

He further stated that “delays in payment put undue pressure on the contractors who are also exploited by the agents of the commission. They make the contractors to agree to part with fifteen per cent (15%) kickback of the total value of IPC’s to be paid.  This in part has contributed to many abandoned projects.”

The contractor also lamented about the difficulty of file movement, he claimed some directorates openly sought financial inducement before files are worked on, and that NDDC is the worst in all the federal ministries.   The difficulties in getting contract agreement signed virtually seem like a deliberate move by the commission, most contractors are yet to sign their contractual agreement with NDDC making it closely impossible to sue them for bridge of contract agreement.

The question every reasonable mind is asking is; are the contracts awarded designed to fail? Considering the conditions contracts are awarded and payments made. After subtracting the payment & deductions contractors are subjected to, your answer is as good as mine.

 20% for the contract award + 15% deducted from every IPC + estimated 2% used to move files within the commission = 37%. With this calculation, it is now clear why most NDDC contracts are poorly executed or abandoned after you consider the deduction of 37% that goes into deep private pockets.

The 15% kickback tale was investigated by our reporters and confirmed to be a practice desperate contractors agree to in order to meet their financial obligations to their financiers and suppliers.  The stories of woe by NDDC contractors are not new to us. On 4, December 2016 we published a report titled “AN NDDC CONTRACTORS APPEAL FOR PAYMENT AFTER DEBTORS FORECLOSED HIS HOUSE AND OFFICE COMPLEX.” See blog link  http://africanvogues.blogspot.com.ng/2015/12/an-nddc-contractors-appeal-for-payment.html

Federal government releases money, but a commission like the NDDC mismanages the funds to make the federal government look bad. This financial terrorism must stop; the plights of the people of Niger Delta region are made worst by this blatant disregard for contractual agreements and corruption being perpetrated by every successive management of NDDC.


The anti corruption administration of President Buhari must use his good office to regularize the NDDC system to become more efficient and advantageous to the grossly marginalized people of the Niger Delta region.

Please share until it gets to the President.