The Chairman, Governing Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Lauretta Onochie, has described as “illegal, dubious” and of no effect, the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the commission and the United States (US) firm, Atlanta Global Resources Incorporate (AGRI) for a rail project in the Niger Delta.

At the NDDC convened Public Private Partnerships (PPP) Summit held in Lagos April 25, the Managing Director (MD) of the NDDC, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, had signed the MoU on behalf of the commission with AGRI, to build a railway network from Lagos to Calabar, aimed at linking nine states of the Niger Delta.

Onochie in a stern rebuttal on the development also said the project duplicates an existing one already awarded by the federal government, just as she alleged that the said US partner on the agreement was incompetent in handling such a project and its directors unknown.

The NDDC Chairman said, “By the Act No 6, of 2000 establishing the NDDC, it is the Chairman of the Board that is solely vested with the power to sign MOUs with any organisation.

Thus, the signing of an MOU to the tune of $15 billion (USD) with such an organisation is not only suspect but dubious.

“The US company, Atlanta Global Resources Inc, has no expertise nor experience in any form of construction, let alone, railway construction. This company is a Management and Export Consulting Firm is without known notable Directors.

“NDDC has not and could not have signed an MOU, worth $15 billion (USD) without the Board and Federal Executive Council’s (FEC’s) approval. The so-called MOU signed with AGRI is hereby disowned by the Board and declared null and void.”

She added, “Federal Executive Council (FEC), having recognised the importance of infrastructure in the Niger Delta had awarded a Contract for the same project in 2021 at the sum of $11.7 billion for the construction of a Mega railway.

“It is shocking that after FEC, the highest ruling body in the country had done this, anyone would be signing an MOU on behalf of NDDC and the Federal Government of Nigeria for the same project in 2023 without due process nor approval by FEC in the twilight of the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

“Same clumsy, shady and hazy transactions of the past in NDDC, that had bedevilled and stultified identifiable progress in the past, was rested with the “Forensic Audit” and inauguration of the new board, with the sanitisation of the commission as its mantra.

“However, old habits die hard. And some individuals, within and without the Commission, still retain the retrogressive mindset that has held the Commission down for the past 22 years. We cannot remain in the old dubious path.

“We, therefore, call on all our partners and stakeholders in this quest, CBN (TSA), The Ministry of Niger Delta, The National Assembly, Our nine States’ Governors (Advisory Board), Our Traditional rulers, Youth Population, etc., to take note. “

•We’re being misconstrued —MD

In a response released through Willie Etim, his Special Assistant, Media, the NDDC MD, noted that the Board Chairman, like others who have inundated the commission with enquiry over the MoU may have got it twisted.

He noted that, “This foundational process may have been misconstrued by some persons to mean that the NDDC has signed the Engineering, Procurement and Construction, EPC, contract. (Saturday Vanguard)

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