House directs NDDC to defray liabilities with 2019 budget
Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The House of Representatives on Tuesday directed the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to deploy its 2019 budget towards settling its existing liabilities.
The chairman, House Committee on NDDC, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, gave the directive when the management of the Commission appeared before the Committee to defend its 2019 budget estimates.
Tunji-Ojo complained that the NDDC was 14 months behind schedule in its the presentation of its 2019 budget to the National Assembly and subsequent implementation.
He stated that regardless of the delay, when approved, all ongoing projects in the NDDC 2019 budget will be rolled over to the Commission’s 2020 budget, which will be considered after the approval of its 2019 budget.
According to him, as part of measures towards implementing the recommendations reached by the House on the NDDC 2019 budget, the Commission must present the list of all contractors being owed to the Committee.
The lawmaker stated that that the contractors will only be paid after their claims have been verified and approved by the Committee.
Tunji-Ojo urged the NDDC to recover the over N1 trillion it is being owed by various entities, so as to help it in offsetting its liabilities.
