By BARBARA KALU, Abuja –
Former governor of Delta state, Chief James Onanefe Ibori, has denied obtaining any contract from the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), as alleged by Minister of the Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio.
Akpabio had, in a letter submitted to the House of Representatives Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, named Ibori and his immediate successor, Emmanuel Uduagham, former Abia State governor, Senator Orji Kalu and other prominent politicians as parts of those who benefited from controversial contracts awarded by the NDDC, which are currently being probed by the National Assembly.
One of the projects linked to James Ibori was the emergency repairs of Onoghove community road from Ajanesan to Western Delta University at a cost of N485.7m.
But Ibori, in a reply through his Media aide, Tony Uluomunor, said on Monday he decided to make the clarification for the records because friends and associates inundated him with phone calls this morning.
He stated categorically he never solicited for, or was awarded, or indeed executed, any contract with NDDC or any government agency, at any time, for that matter.
Ibori noted that in all he had been through in and out of public office, he had never been accused of being a government contractor, let alone a failed one hence he did not want to dignify the allegation with a response because it is ridiculous.
He therefore advised Akpabio, whom he described as his brother, friend and member of the former Governors Forum, to “please calm down and focus on the task at hand.”
Ibori said that the NDDC we have today is a product of his personal sacrifice as well as those of his Niger Delta colleagues (1999 -2007) who rose to the occasion to override the veto of President Olusegun Obasanjo who refused to assent to the NDDC Bill at the time. “If not for the exemplary courage some of us exhibited, there would have not been an NDDC to bicker about today”, he said.
Ibori added: “Watching the level the NDDC has degenerated to, is a tragedy. We owe it a duty to the people of the Niger Delta to make NDDC work to ameliorate the sufferings of the people of the region and to realise the dream for which we fought for it to be set up. So, let everybody involved in the NDDC do their duties to the good people of the region.
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