Imo State Governor, Chief Rochas Okorocha, has charged the Senate Committee on Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, to critically look into what he called “the gross marginalization of the state by the Commission and take steps to ensure that the anomaly is corrected in the new dispensation.”

The governor made the plea yesterday, when members of the Senate Committee on NDDC, led by its Chairman, Senator Peter Nwaoboshi, paid him a courtesy call at the Government House, Owerri.

“The NDDC has not done well in Imo state. If there is any state that has not benefitted from NDDC programmes, it is Imo state. We are worst for it. There is no single project completed by NDDC in Imo State, except for boreholes and renovation of classrooms. Something has to be done and urgently too in Imo by the Commission to give the state, a sense of belonging,” Okorocha said.

The Governor complained that the NDDC constructs a kilometer of road for N500 million, while the state government spends only N70 million for the same job.

“The Senate should ask the contractors to come and do the job. We are not interested in recovering the money. We want the job done”, Okorocha said.

While pleading that there must be change of attitude on the part of NDDC, the Governor also said that the essence of democracy is to provide dividends of democracy for the people and where this is lacking, democratic structure has failed.

His words: “The Senate committee has done well by asking for government’s input before the passage of the NDDC budget. The Owerri/Okigwe Road is a death trap because of its narrow nature and it is a federal road. The NDDC can do that road. The road linking the Imo Industrial park and the one to Oguta Lake can also be taken up. I want to advise the NDDC to think of one unique project that will touch the lives of the nine NDDC states like railway or power. That will define the true essence of the commission.”

Speaking earlier, Senator Nwaoboshi told the Governor that they were in the state on fact-finding to enable them carry out total evaluation of NDDC jobs from 2000 till date.

“We are also here to find out whether the performance of the Commission has actually affected the lives of the people in the NDDC states. The committee members decided to undertake such action following a motion to that effect in the Senate, which was passed”, Nwaoboshi said.

He assured that his committee would ensure that the contractors who abandoned their sites on flimsy reasons would be made to face the wrath of the law, while those who require assistance of the committee to return to site would be assisted to do so.

“This committee would not cut corners. Our report would reflect the facts on ground. If the need arises, the committee might have a public hearing for all Nigerians to see the truth”, the lawmaker said.