N’Assembly uncovers fraud in MDGs, River Niger projects – The Guardian
November 27, 2009 by tim
The two chambers of the National Assembly yesterday resolved to check corruption in ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) and the alleged multi-billion scam in River Niger dredging project.
While the Senate, which reviewed the performance of the Federal Government in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) projects, lamented that they were characterised by corruption, inefficiency and waste, the House of Representatives Committee on Marine Transport has also alleged scandal in the multi-billion dredging of River Niger. It linked the scam to the installation of substandard navigational aids on the river by one of the contractors handling the projects
In a statement issued by the Chairman of Senate Committee on Information and Media, Ayogu Eze, the Upper House claimed that most of the contracts for which money had been paid were fake and non-existent.
Titled: ‘MDGs: A drain pipe?’ it said every Nigerian knows that the MDG Office is one that had become a “cesspool of corruption and shady deals. The process of selecting contractors for the MDG projects has been hijacked by the senior special assistant and her members of staff, who fabricate company names and pre-qualify them for the job in many instances. Nearly all the companies awarded the MDG jobs in one state are traced to one person and one address, though they appear to be different companies. The result is that the jobs are undone because the companies lack capacity, and were never interested in doing these jobs in the first instance.”
