Contract allegation: Uduaghan replies Akpabio

Former Governor of Delta state, Emmanuel Uduaghan has described the listing of his name among those awarded various contracts by the Niger Delta Development Commission as ridiculous and utterly untrue.

Recall that the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, was said to have named James Ibori and Emmanuel Uduaghan as having benefited from emergency repairs projects awarded by the commission in 2018.

Each of the projects linked to the two former governors and the senators are said to be within the range of N400m and N560m.

However, Uduaghan through his Media Assistant, Monoyo Edon, said it was ridiculous that the said contract supposedly awarded to him is a road inside Port Harcourt town.

He described the report as false while hoping the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio makes a corrective statement on the report which has since been widely circulated in the media space.

The statement reads: The attention of His Excellency, former Gov of Delta State Dr. Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan, has been drawn to a publication by The Punch Newspapers of Monday 3rd August 2020, which stated that the “Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has linked two former governors of Delta State, Messrs James Ibori and Emmanuel Uduaghan, to the various contracts awarded by the Niger Delta Development Commission”

In the said publication, it was stated that “Uduaghan was linked to the emergency repairs of Close B, Alhaji Estate & Environs, Rumuodomaya, Port Harcourt at a cost of N429m.”

He said Dr. Uduaghan has never approached the NDDC for any contract whatsoever, noting that it is even more ridiculous that the said contract is a road inside Port Harcourt town.

One of those linked to Ibori was the emergency repairs of Onoghove community road from Ajanesan to Western Delta University, and valued at N485.7m, while the emergency repairs of Close B, Alhaji Estate & Environs, Rumuodomaya, Port Harcourt, estimated to cost N429m, was linked to Uduaghan.

Five projects were reportedly linked to Kalu, all valued at above N500 million in Abia state, and while 12 others were linked to Araraume in Imo and Rivers state.