Leadership (Abuja)
Austine Unoarumi
16 November 2009
Port Harcourt — The House of Representatives Committee on Water Resources has expressed concern over the poor management of funds allocated to the Niger Delta Basin Rivers Development Authority (NDBDA) since 2007.
Expressing disappointment over what it described as inflation of projects executed by the authority, the committee led by its Deputy Chairman, Hon. Johnson Abolagba, had during its one-day visit to one of the authority's basins at Isiokpo, an outskirt of Port Harcourt, disclosed that the projects executed were not commensurate to the funds allocated to the board by the National Assembly. The chairman who also expressed worry that it could not be shown relevant documents of projects executed on demand, said that "if there was judicious utilization of funds allocated to the authority, the long notice of its visit was enough for NDBDA to put its house in order" The committee, also observed that the piggery farms project was grossly under-utilized, and berated the NDBDA for commencing the job late.
It further expressed shock that a major reservoir, which the NDBDA claimed it had completed with a power generating set at the cost of N9 million was only dug and non- functional. Hon Abolagba, who later spoke to Leadership disclosed that the committee is unhappy with what it met on ground. "We were able to unveil where NDBDA erred and have called the board to order". It maintained that for the country to move forward, government parastatals and agencies must learn to return unspent budget to government coffers. The Chairman of the authority ,Hon Emmanuel Aguariavwodo however, said his administration was committed to turning the NDBDA around. He added that one of the major constraints NDBDA was facing include funding and called on the government to come to its aid.
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