NAN-H-147
Funds
By EricJames Ochigbo
Abuja, Feb. 9, 2017 (NAN) The Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs says it will crackdown on contractors who took money from the ministry for developmental projects but absconded.
Its Minister, Mr Uguru Usani, told reporters in Abuja on Thursday that it was the responsibility of the ministry to recover government funds.
He said there were a lot of uncompleted projects under the purview of the ministry noting that a certain contractor who collected N700 million was nowhere to be found.
Cue in audio (Usani)
“I don’t need to collaborate to make sure we recover government funds; it is our responsibility.
“It is on the basis of our trying to investigate to make sure that whatever has happened to the ministry even before we came takes its rightful place.
“The contractor that we are talking about had a duty with the ministry several years before our arrival.
“So it is not our commitment, but it is our responsibility to recover the commitment whenever it was made.”
Cue out audio
The minister said efforts were ongoing to source for funds outside budgetary allocation to hasten the completion of projects initiated by the ministry for the development of the Niger Delta region. (NAN)
EOO/LAB/YEE
Edited by Lydia Beshel/Emmanuel Yashim
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