Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
A Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) contractor accused of underhand dealings by the Commission, Mr Nelson Agbamuche, has dismissed allegations against him as baseless.
Mr Agbamuche, who is the Odozi Ani of Akwukwu Igbo Kingdom, in a statement on Wednesday, accused the NDDC’s Acting Executive Director of Projects, Mr Cairo Ojougboh, of peddling falsehoods against him.
The contractor called on the anti-graft agencies to investigate the claims of the NDDC against him in order to unravel the truth and bring ‘the purveyor of lies to book.’
According to him, ‘how can someone make such a hideous accusation without any iota of truth? I do not have any business relationship with anybody in the Senate and the whole National Assembly. How can I start fronting for anybody at my age and level? Is that not an insult?
‘I am a high chief in my kingdom. I have been executing contracts in NDDC since 2012 and I have never been found wanting. I execute any contract I win diligently because it is for the benefit of our people.
‘I am a Nigerian and ably qualified to bid for contracts anywhere, including NDDC. Cairo also mentioned a particular contract for the supply of plastic chairs. Let me put it on record that over 15 contractors were engaged for that supply. Just like other contractors, I delivered satisfactorily. All contractors were meant to lease warehouses for a certain period for the purpose of warehousing the goods with the supervision of NDDC because the Commission’s warehouse could not contain the supplies.
‘Mine was no different. My company leased a warehouse to store those items under the supervision of NDDC officials until they were distributed by the same officials. Records are there.’