THE chairman of Itsekiri Development Congress (IDC), Mr Emmanuel Okotie-Eboh has tackled the management of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) on why Itsekiri Nation was not included in latest tender for projects to be executed by the Commission in the region.
The Commission recently called for Tender in furtherance of its mandate to execute projects for sustainable development of the Niger Delta Region and excluded the Itsekiri Nation from the Tender.
Speaking on the development in Warri, Delta State, at the weekend, Mr Okotie-Eboh, a farmer and son of Nigerian first Finance Minister, Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh, demanded explanation from the Commission over the exclusion of the Itsekiri Nation from the Tender.
He said that;” Am calling on the Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to tell the whole world why Itsekiri Nation, one of the highest oil producing areas in the country do not have projects in the latest tender as published by NDDC management”.
“The Itsekiri people want to know why they are left out in the Tender. Are we not qualified to have projects executed in our areas . Was any publication carried out asking our people for Tender in Itsekiri land? We need clarification on the exclusion of the Itsekiri Nation. It will be good for fair play to tell us why we are being shortchanged in the scheme of things”, the IDC boss added.
According to him also;” If the projects have been awarded, at least the people should know where the projects are located and contractors handling them to enable the people monitor the projects properly to ensure that they are executed to specifications. So we calling on the board of the NDDC to speak out on this very important issue; we should not encourage militancy. Let the people know who to hold for their underdevelopment instead of disturbing the Federal Government every time we talk about underdevelopment”.
“We do not need to play politics with the development of the people and the land. This is one of the reasons why sometimes ago I called for the decentralization of all the intervention agencies so that we can know who is depriving us of development”, Mr Okotie-Eboh said.
